


A Swan, A Thief, and a Dreamcatcher

by RonRos47



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-05-12 13:07:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19229728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RonRos47/pseuds/RonRos47
Summary: "It's capable of catching so much more". Emma once again finds herself using a dream catcher and gets a lot more than she had intended.





	A Swan, A Thief, and a Dreamcatcher

Published: 01-09-13, Updated: 01-25-13

*****

Emma Swan sighed as she walked down the stairs from Henry's bedroom.  
It had been a stressful few days for all of them. Telling Henry that Archie had died had been one of the most painful things she had ever done. She had never given bad news to someone before, not like this, not when it counted. As a bail bonds person she had always given bad news to people but that was just part of the job. None of the people she sought out meant anything, they were just another paycheck. Same could be said with being the sheriff in a small town. Though she had to uphold the law and sometimes be the bringer of bad news, none had been harder than to give bad news to a family member.  
Family.  
Though she loved her son and loved her parents in a way she had never loved anyone before and trusted that the love was real the concept of family was still new to her. To all of them, Henry included. For twenty eight years they had all been without each other, eleven years in Henry's case but apart from one another the same.  
"What the hell do you know about family hu," were the words that rang in Emma's head as she continued on her way to the kitchen table, words from a guy who she had hunted down on her last job before moving to Storybrooke.  
Nothing had been her reply and she still knew nothing about family except that she had one.  
As if to combat those negatives, Emma's mind thought back to the first real conversation with her parents. Though she'd add a few before they all knew the truth, and they had some shortly after the curse had been lifted, Emma's real connection to them as a whole had been a few days ago as they waited for Henry after school.  
"We don't have to go through any of it alone, we're family."  
The words echoed in Emma's mind. She didn't even see as Mary Margaret came and sat across from her, placing a cup of hot chocolate and cinnamon on the table.  
"You okay," Mary Margaret asked taking Emma out of her thoughts.  
Emma looked at her parents who were looking at her with concern. Diverting her eyes from them, Emma's eyes glanced down to the swan pendant that she hadn't realized she'd been caressing. She quickly placed her hand down as if the pendant were on fire.  
Mary Margaret looked at David, curious as to why their daughter had done that, the look in Emma's eyes didn't go unnoticed either as if by seeing the pendant and dropping it quickly it held some kind of power over her. Mary Margaret didn't press the issue, not directly anyways.  
"You seem kind of distracted," said Mary Margaret.  
Emma looked down at her hot cocoa, "I'm fine," she said taking a finger full of whipped cream. After swallowing that and taking a sip, knowing her parents would want more than just a typical answer, "I just wish I could make things better."  
Mary Margaret smiled and placed a hand on Emma's, "Hey, he's a tough kid. He'll bounce back from this."  
"I know he will," Emma replied as she looked up at her parents. "It's not just Archie's death. He's terrified that Regina could come after him. Henry's been having nightmares for a couple night's all ready because of that. How do I reassure my kid that I'll do everything I can to protect him when I'm scared of the same thing?" Emma looked down into her cup. "I was away from his life too long. I can't lose him again. And I know the circumstances were different but if I ever lose Henry it won't be my choice this time."  
"Hey," said David, "You're not going to lose him. The kid practically has a whole army ready to defend him."  
Emma looked up, "I can't ask you to put your lives on the line like that or anyone else for that matter."  
"You didn't," Mary Margaret replied. "He's your son." Mary Margaret looked over to David and back at Emma, "Our grandson. We would do anything for him and for you."  
Emma let out a slight smile.

*****

Their conversation lasted another ten minutes but was interrupted by a scream upstairs. Emma quickly moved her head in that direction and immediately got up from her seat.  
"I've got it," she said to her parents all ready making her way upstairs.  
Emma quickly opened Henry's door and walked in. He was trashing about on the bed, his blankets scattered on the floor.  
"Henry," she said touching his arms to keep him from moving. Still he did, his legs kicking the air that his confined hands couldn't. "Henry," she called out a little stronger. "Henry, wake up," she called to him.  
Henry's eyes opened quickly, first looking up to the ceiling. Once aware that he was awake Henry sat up and fell into his mother's arms.  
Emma caressed his head and neck, "Shh, you're okay. You're safe now."  
Henry hugged Emma tighter as she continued to sooth him.  
Once Henry's breathing slowed and returned to normal Emma pulled back and looked at Henry.  
"Want to tell me about it?"  
Henry looked down, "It was the same as last time. My mom materialized in the middle of the room and took me with her before you, David, and Mary Margaret could wake up. She always comes at night in the dream because she knows that's when you'll be the most vulnerable."  
"Henry listen to me, I'm not going to let that happen okay? Regina can't get to you, not when she knows how well protected you are. She won't risk it."  
Henry took a deep breath, "Maybe you're right."  
Emma looked over to Henry's nightstand. "Why don't I go downstairs and get some matches so we can light your candle tonight, it'll keep away the bad dreams."  
"It's not helping anymore."  
"I'm sure there's something else we can try. What do you say to you come sleep with me, isn't that what kids do when they have nightmares and can't sleep?"  
Henry smiled at his mother's failed attempt, "I'm eleven."  
"Right okay well how about I stay with you tonight?"  
"I suppose I can work with that," he said with another smile.  
Emma smiled back, "Good, now let's get you tucked in again. That must have been some nightmare," she said getting up to pick up his blankets.  
Shortly once Henry was tucked in Emma got on the bed with him. He then rested so that he was next to her, Emma draping her arm around his small form.  
"I will find a way to make those nightmares stop kid, I promise," she said to him.  
"They're just nightmares," Henry replied.  
And true they were to an extent. A lot of kids had nightmares, even adults had them but Emma knew better now that she wasn't living in what was once considered her real world.  
After Henry's sleeping curse he had the unfortunate side effect of entering a netherworld where the nightmare was real. She hated to think what could happen if his new nightmares became real too.  
"Try and get some sleep Henry," she said placing a kiss on his head. "I'll be here all night."  
Henry yawned. Emma knew the boy was tired, "Okay," he said to her.  
As Henry drifted off to sleep, Emma stayed awake.  
She glanced to the window. The moon was full tonight and in a close distance she could hear a howl.  
Yes Henry would be protected. He wasn't just the mayor's kid anymore. He was hers, the son of the savior.

*****

The next morning Emma watched as Henry's bus drove away. It pained her that she had to send him to school. Part of her wished she could just home school him and she had even suggested as much to her parents but then it was all agreed that Henry needed some normalcy in his life and that he shouldn't have to live in fear.  
Regina could try and get to him all she wanted but even at school he would be protected.  
Fredrick for one; Despite everything that had happened with David and Katherine, now that the truth had been revealed they had let bygones be bygones and though it was still somewhat awkward between David and Katherine, Fredrick had agreed to look out for Emma's son given all that she had done when Katherine had gone missing. He owed her a debt of gratitude for that.  
As the bus rounded the corner Emma took a deep breath. There was one place she needed to go and the sooner the better.  
The door chimed and Mr. Gold looked up with a smile.  
"Ah Miss Swan, to what do I owe the pleasure? You're not here to accuse me of something I didn't do now are you?"  
"Not this time, no." Emma looked at Gold, defeated and with a sadness in her eyes. "I need your help with something."  
"I'm all ears."  
"It's Henry, he's been having nightmares."  
"Now are these the same nightmares as the ones he has when he goes to that netherworld or something else entirely?"  
"Something different," Emma replied. "I know I'm probably just worrying over nothing and that they probably just are nightmares. I mean all kids have them right?"  
"True but Henry isn't just any kid, he's your kid. With your family tree you should know that. You're his mother now Miss Swan. You have to make your boy feel safe, secure."  
"At what cost, magic?"  
"You're the one who came to me dearie. If you didn't want my help then why bother at all?"  
"I was hoping you could help me without the use of magic."  
Gold smiled, "Well in that case you don't need my help at all. You all ready know what to do Miss Swan."  
"How do you know that?"  
"How do I know a lot of things? You're not the only one who is good about reading people sheriff. Think back to a few days ago when you first came in here accusing me of Dr. Hopper's death, you'll find what you need in those memories."

*****

Emma fell back on her bed and looked up. She was grateful that David was covering the sheriff station. She loved both her jobs, being sheriff and being a full time mom to Henry but right now he was her only focus and David understood that.

It was slightly different for him. Though he and Mary Margaret were trying to get the hang of parenting themselves, it was different because Emma wasn't a child. David had taken care of Henry while she was away for which Emma was grateful and now it was her turn. So even though David and Mary Margaret were there for Henry, at the same time they knew they needed to step back sometimes and let Emma do the parenting, they couldn't do that part for her.  
Emma was determined to find a solution for Henry's nightmares. Not a magical one but one to help calm his fears, one to help trap his nightmares. And then it hit her. Gold had said the solution would be in her memories and it was.

Getting up from her bed Emma walked over to her dresser. She opened the top drawer and underneath some clothes she pulled out the old box where she had kept her necklace. Emma took a deep breath and opened the box, looking at the content inside.

*****

Later that evening as Henry got ready for bed Emma emerged from her room with the box.  
"What's that," David asked.  
Emma took a deep breath and looked at the box, her hands running over it like a delicate shell.  
"Something I haven't needed in a long time," she replied. She looked up at her parents. "I'm hoping it will help Henry."  
She made her way upstairs not bothering to explain more.

*****

Emma knocked before entering and when Henry gave her the go ahead she turned the handle and made her way inside.  
"Hey kid, how you holding up?"  
Henry just shrugged. Emma could tell that he was afraid of going asleep. Though she had stayed with him last night, Henry had gotten scared a couple of times. Emma had tried everything- reading him a calm bed time story, putting on some soft music, even getting him some chamomile tea. They had all failed.  
Emma sat on the edge of Henry's bed. "I've got something for you," she said placing the box in front of her so that Henry could see it.  
Henry leaned forward from his sitting position so he could have a better look as Emma opened the box.  
"What is it?"  
Emma pulled out a medium sized dream catcher. It was yellow and very similar in detail to the one she had shared before only smaller. She had gotten it shortly after getting out of prison back when her world was a jumbled mess. Though the dream catcher itself was a constant reminder, for the most part it had helped to keep her own nightmares at bay.  
"It's a Native American dream catcher. It's supposed to keep all the nightmares out and only let the good dreams in."  
Henry looked at Emma, "It's flypaper for nightmares?"  
Emma froze for a moment. As hard as she tried to ignore it there were times when Emma saw a lot of Henry's father in him. Though he had certainly inherited traits from her side of the family, he had also inherited some from his other side as well, his often mannerisms, habits and word choice as well.  
Emma shook her head, shaking away her thoughts.  
"It'll help, I promise," she said reaching over to hang the dream catcher on the bed post.  
Henry looked over at the dream catcher and then at Emma.  
"Did it help with your nightmares," Henry asked.  
Again Emma was caught off guard but his question made total sense. Why keep a dream catcher for nightmares if you didn't have any?  
Emma let out a small smile, "It did for a while. It kept them at arm's length anyways so they were easier to deal with."  
"What were your nightmares about?  
Emma looked at her son. He wasn't letting up tonight. Emma took a deep breath.  
"My past is pretty messed up. I got thrown around from foster home to foster home, got into some trouble. My situation was anything but easy. Sometimes at night those memories merge and turn into nightmares." Emma took Henry's hand and had him look directly at her, "But Henry that's all they were, that's all they are, they're just nightmares." She looked to the side and then back at him, "I know in our newfound reality some nightmares can hurt but there are others that can't. I'm sure of it. The dream catcher will protect you and keep the nightmares at bay, I promise."  
Henry smiled and nodded. He then looked down for a moment before slowly glancing up. "Can you stay here tonight, just in case it doesn't work?"  
Emma smiled, "Sure kid, I can do that."  
Emma stood and walked over to the other side of the bed, stretching herself out on it. She wrapped her arm around him as Henry scooted in.  
"I'll be here when you wake up," she said placing a kiss on top of his forehead.

*****

Emma awoke in a haze. It was pitch black all around her, the lights dim. She knew this place. It was familiar.  
She could still see his face as clearly as if the lights were on. Though the rest of the room was blured and faded, he was not.  
"We're almost home," Neal said with a smile.  
A young and in love Emma smiled back. The word 'home' echoing over and over in her mind.  
"Home," she said aloud after Neal was gone. He was gone but she would see him again. They would meet up and then start their lives together.  
The scene shifted.  
"Neal," her younger self called out. "Neal! Don't leave me like this, don't leave me this way. Come back. Neal!"  
In a wave of gray fog the scene soon shifted a second time. Navy blue lights mixed with gray clouded her vision until Emma saw her younger self strapped to some stirrups on the bed. She was in pain. Immense pain. Emma heard her young self scream. Waiting. Waiting for it to be over.  
This wasn't the way it was supposed to be. Emma had been in this nightmare before but never had she been separated from it before. Never had she been disassociated, her present self and younger self as two individuals, she had always been a part of it, never seeing it from the outside the way her current self was seeing it now.  
Emma could only watch as her young self finally stopped screaming and a small smile formed across her face.  
"Let me hold him," Emma said reaching out her hands.  
A pair of gloved hands, the rest of the body shrouded in darkness, brought forth the tiny bundle. It was still matted with blood but Emma didn't care. Looking down at the small boy in her arms Emma gently stroked his face as she smiled.  
"You're so…charming," was the word that came to her lips.  
Again the scene shifted. Now the young Emma was calling out. "No, I made a mistake. Bring him back to me!" There was no one in the darkness to answer her pleas. "Come back! Come back. Bring back my son!"  
Darkness faded over the both of them but present Emma could still hear young Emma's heavy breathing and heavy sobs, slowly fading as an echo that became silent.

*****

Breathing heavily herself, Emma opened her eyes. She moved her eyes to the window. Daylight was coming. She looked down to her left side. Henry was still there and knowing that Emma sighed in relief.

It was only a bad dream. One she hadn't had in a very long time. Emma glanced over the dream catcher for a moment before deciding it was probably best to get up. Henry would be awake himself in a while and she wanted to get ready for the day before he was.

*****

Making her way downstairs, it didn't surprise Emma that her parents were all ready up. They usually were.  
"Morning," Mary Margaret said to her.  
Emma looked up at her. The expression in her eyes warned it wasn't a good morning at all.  
"Late night with Henry," David asked.  
Emma walked over to the counter and poured herself a cup of hot chocolate that Mary Margaret had all ready set out.  
"Henry slept fine," Emma replied. "I wasn't the one who couldn't sleep."  
Mary Margaret looked over at David for a moment and then back at Emma, "How come," she asked.  
Emma just shook her head, taking a sip, and then bringing the cup back down. "Bad dream. It's nothing."  
Mary Margaret looked at her daughter and Emma caught her eye. She knew what Mary Margaret was going to say: Nothing with you means something because if it were nothing we wouldn't be talking about it.  
Before Mary Margaret could speak those words, Emma spoke up first. "It was just a dream, I've had it before. It's no big deal."  
"Emma," said Mary Margaret, "If you've had that dream before it probably is a big deal."  
"It's not," Emma snapped. She lowered her gaze. "It can't mean anything, not anymore."

David looked at Mary Margaret. Though all of them were still getting to know each other and trying to figure out their roles as parents, they could tell that something was eating Emma up inside, that it had been for a few days but they knew better than to push. If they did Emma would only shut down and that was the last thing I wanted.

Emma looked down at her cup. The chocolate wasn't helping. The dream had now taken the center of her thoughts.  
Tossing the rest of her drink in the sink Emma walked to her room and got ready.

*****

She emerged with a couple of files in her hand.  
Henry was still asleep and as much as Emma wanted to wait for him, to be the kind of mother he deserved right now, she couldn't. How did people do this? How did parents put their own issues aside to be there for their kid? Emma didn't have the answers. The only thing that made any sense right now was pulling herself together before she could handle anything else.  
"I have to get to work," Emma stated simply.  
"On a Saturday," Mary Margaret asked sounding skeptical.  
"Something I can help with," David asked standing up but also sounding skeptical as well.  
"No that's okay. It's just an old case, I can handle it."  
Mary Margaret and David could only watch as Emma left the apartment. They were deeply concerned for their daughter and hoped that she would open up when she was ready.

With Emma gone, they were more than happy to take care of Henry but that didn't stop Mary Margaret's nagging feeling that Emma's needing to get to work had something to do with whatever it was that was bothering her.  
She would let it go for now.

*****

The lights at the sheriff station were all off but that didn't bother Emma. The light from the outside made it more than bright enough so there was no need.  
Emma held all three files open. The one to the left was her old case file from when she was in the system, the one to the right was her juvy record, and the one in the middle was the criminal record that belonged to Neal Cassidy.

That was an upside to being a bail bond person. It was easy to detain records when on the search for a perp that you needed to find. Emma held had had her system record for a while but she hadn't come to the criminal files until just shortly after Henry had come to find her.

Thinking that part of her life was over, she had nearly just about flipped out when her past came back to her present, even more so when she had talked to Henry's adoptive mother and she had asked about Henry's father.

Upon arrival of the files, Emma had refused to look at them until now. She had been thinking about Neal a lot lately. And after the incident with the dream catcher as a way to find out the truth about Archie even more so. It wasn't like it was that big of a deal. She had kept the car they shared and kept the keychain but then there were certain moments, certain situations that brought her past up all over again.

Just a few days ago she had confided in her parents, with however little detail as possible, that they didn't know what she had been before Storybrooke. Now considering how much her life had changed the thought of regressing rested heavily on her. She knew what she was, what she had been and with some of those memories came the thought of Neal.

She sighed as she looked at the file. There was nothing there which showed that he had never gotten arrested, never did any time since before they had met.  
The nightmare didn't take too long to resurface in Emma's mind. She wasn't surprised really given that she was staring right at a picture of Neal that was in the file.

Thinking about it, maybe it hadn't been all that wise to give Henry the dream catcher. It was probably filled with so many of her nightmares that maybe it was no longer capable of holding anymore. It had certainly backfired on her last night given that she hadn't had that particular nightmare in years. There was no way it could have been a coincidence. That word no longer seemed to apply much anymore.

Thoughts of coincidence began to lead Emma's mind a path she wasn't sure she wanted to take. Regina had warned her that magic came with a price but Emma knew she had to make her next move, she had to know.

*****

Later in the afternoon Emma opened the door to Gold's shop.  
Mr. Gold smiled, "Ah Miss Swan, twice in less than a week, did you find what you needed to help your boy?"  
"That all depends."  
"On what?"  
"On this," said Emma, placing the dream catcher on the counter.

She had gone home shortly after the office to retrieve it, promising Henry that she would bring it back to him. She just needed to check something first. Henry was curious as to what Emma could need to check with a dream catcher but she had reassured him that she wanted to make sure it worked given that it did contain powers of its own even when not activated properly by magic. Henry bought that reason and left it at that.

"What can you tell me about dream catchers," Emma asked him. "You said it was capable of more than just catching dreams."  
"Ah that I did. Well, they do catch dreams but they can also be a way of sending messages."  
"Can it be…reprogrammed? If it captures nightmares then can those be removed so that those nightmares are no longer in the dream catcher?"  
"I'm curious, why all the sudden interest in dream catchers Miss Swan?"  
"I'm just trying to help my kid."  
"Yes but this time it isn't about your boy now is it? And it certainly wasn't about him the first time when I pulled out a dream catcher was it?"  
Emma looked at Gold.  
"Like I said, you're not the only one who is good at reading people. I saw the way you looked at the dream catcher Miss Swan, heard the way your voice softened as you mentioned the word. What could ever elicit such a response?"  
"That's my business," Emma said to him. "The dream catcher worked for Henry but it's having the opposite effect on me. I'm having dreams I don't want, dreams I haven't had in years."  
"Maybe those dreams are coming to you because they're trying to give you a message."  
"I don't care, whatever message it has, I don't want. Can it be reprogrammed or not?"  
"I'm afraid not. And what you're describing isn't a dream, it's a nightmare."  
"Whatever, I still don't want this nightmare in my head."  
"Let me show you something. You see this hole in the center, this is the place where the good dreams enter. The web around it is what captures the nightmares and they disappear as the sun rises at dawn."  
"Then why is mine still trapped in it?"  
"That's a question I can't answer. Only you can do that and in order to do so you'll have to use the dream catcher as both a way of extracting your memories and extracting the dream it harbors. The first which you all ready know you can do and the second well, I'm sure you'll figure it out."  
"You're asking me to use magic."  
"Not really, no. I'm leaving that decision up to you but if I had to bet I'd say that your boy will continue to need you and you'll want to be there for him and the only way you can is if you and the dream catcher can…get along for lack of a better phrase."  
Emma picked up the dream catcher.  
"Then I'll do what I have to," she said not indicating her plan as she walked to the door.  
"Need I remind you Miss Swan, if you decide to use magic then magic-," said Gold.  
"Always comes with a price," Emma said as she stood near the exit on her way out, "I know."

*****

Emma stood in Henry's doorway. He was asleep and the blue dream catcher hung on his bed post. She knew she was cheating by swapping dream catchers. After visiting Gold she had gone out of her way to find a new one, one that wasn't haunted, one that could belong to Henry with no strings attached.

Though Henry had all ready taken a liking to the yellow one she had previously shared with him, he accepted his mom's reasoning that the nightmares weren't escaping the way they were supposed to even if it seemed a bit strange but this was Storybrooke so nothing was strange anymore and Henry always had accepted a lot of the outlandish more than most so he was okay with it.

"Well Henry's out," Emma said to her parents as she walked into the living room where her parents were sitting together on the couch. "It's the first time he's gone to sleep without any trouble."

"That's good," said Mary Margaret. "The dream catcher you got him was a smart idea."  
Emma took a seat on one of the lone sofa couches. "I'm just glad it seems to help him."  
"But it's not helping you is it," Mary Margaret asked. Emma quickly looked up and Mary Margaret shrugged as she continued. "I heard the way your voice softened in Gold's shop a few days ago when he pulled it out."  
Emma looked down feeling embarrassed. "Guess I haven't been as subtle about it have I?"  
"Either that or we just know you too well," Mary Margaret said with a smile.  
Emma let out a small smile of her own, "Yeah I guess."  
Mary Margaret looked at her husband and he looked at their daughter.  
"Talk to us Emma," said David. "You've been all over the place today, what's going on?"  
"There's not much to talk about. It was just a bad dream. Dreams pass in time right, at least they're supposed to. I don't know why this one keeps eating me up."  
"Sure you do," Mary Margaret said with a sympathetic smile. "If you didn't you wouldn't be as bothered."  
Emma shrugged her shoulders and moved her head slightly trying to fight off her memories and the tears she was afraid would trickle down.  
"I haven't had this particular nightmare in nine years. The first time was during two month into…"  
Emma wasn't sure if she could do this. She stood up and walked to the window that was across from her and near the sofa that her parents occupied. Emma crossed her arms and looked into the darkness.  
"You don't know me. You don't know what I was before Storybrooke," Emma said repeating the words that she had said to her parents several days ago. The words rang true now as they did when she had first said them.  
"Then help us get to know you Emma," said Mary Margaret.

*****

Emma sighed. It wasn't that they didn't just know her. For years it had always been a fear that if she ever found her biological parents, what would they think? Would they judge her for the life she led, would they see her differently if they knew the truth? Would it change the relationship in the short time they got to know each other? And worse, despite those fears she'd had over the years would it bother them that she hadn't tried to change because of those fears just in case she found them early on in life?  
There were no easy answers here so Emma took a deep breath. "I wasn't exactly perfect daughter material. I was bounced around from foster home to foster home, always getting into some form of trouble. By the time I was seventeen my luck ran out."  
"The article Sidney Glass wrote," David said pointing it out.  
"Sidney needs to get his facts straight," Emma said sourly. "He did get a couple things right. I did get sent to jail and Henry was born there but the rest of the details were lies. I wasn't visiting friends from some foster family.  
I was out of the system by then, doing a favor for…someone. I got caught and the person I was with got away clean. Two months later the nightmare started and they didn't stop until after I got out. I was able to pick up a new dream catcher and that trapped the nightmares for a while. I used it for a year and a half before deciding I didn't need it anymore."  
Emma turned and looked at her parents. "I'm not proud of who I was back that and if you had known me at that time you wouldn't have been either. I was pretty messed up and even now I struggle with that every day."  
Mary Margaret looked at her daughter and stood up from where she was sitting. She walked over and placed her hands on Emma's crossed arms.  
"You don't have to struggle with it alone," she said to her.  
Emma let out a small smile but as quickly as it had come it was gone. "There's still a lot about me you don't know. I know you say that it's not different in regards to all of us figuring out the parent thing but it is."  
Mary Margaret looked at Emma wondering where her daughter was going with this.  
Emma pulled back and walked away, distancing herself a little. She was on the verge of admitting what she had always been afraid to since Henry first walked back into her life, since she first realized that she would stay in Storyrbooke.  
"It's different," said Emma. "You and David at least have each other." Emma looked down, her arms still crossed. "I never wanted to be a single mother," she said confessing what she had felt all the years since she first found out she was pregnant.  
"When I thought about starting a family I always thought it would be with…" Emma shook her head, "And not the way that it turned out. I know Regina was a single mother for ten years," she said looking up, "but that doesn't stop me for placing the blame on the life I could have had, the life that we… I had planned for."  
Mary Margaret took a step forward and embraced Emma. Emma in turn held on for dear life. She felt so vulnerable right now and was grateful to have her mother to lean on.  
"Life is anything but the way we plan," Mary Margaret said as she soothed her daughter, "but can do this Emma. You're doing such a great job all ready Emma."  
Emma pulled away and looked at her mother with sad eyes. "It's not enough. And as much as I hate what he…what happened to me….I sometimes think that maybe lying to Henry wasn't the best idea, not when I'm so easily reminded of my past."

Mary Margaret looked at her daughter wondering what it was she was talking about.

Emma shook her head, thanked her parents for listening and went to her room. It had been a long night, a long day, and would continue to be a long evening.  
David stood up and wrapped his arms around his wife. There was still so much they didn't know, still so much that Emma was keeping from them. From the pieces they gathered, the favor she had done that landed her in jail was clearly more than for a friend that much was obvious by the look in her eyes. Someone had clearly broken Emma and after so many years her heart and her thoughts still seemed to be in pieces.

David held his wife slightly tighter and Snow reciprocated with her own strength, both wishing there was something they could do to help their little girl.

*****

In the safe confines of her room, door closed, Emma looked over at her dresser and saw the dream catcher placed. She looked at it with distain as if it were some animal that she couldn't get along with.  
'Get a grip Swan,' she said to herself. 'It's meaningless.'  
But Emma knew it wasn't meaningless at all. It had only been once that her old nightmare had been brought to her mind but all ready it was making her life miserable.

Emma ignored the dream catcher for a while as she got ready for bed. She turned off the top light and turned on the lamp on her nightstand.  
Getting under her covers, Emma placed her hands beneath her head and looked up at the ceiling. She wished she could just rest, even for a little while.  
Emma loved being a full time mom to Henry but the new life was still an adjustment. His nightmares had been difficult to deal with but she had done so, proud even over the simple fact that despite her eleven year old son she was still able to sooth him at night. Last night though he hadn't needed her to be there, the dream catcher seemed to have helped. Emma wanted to be there for him tonight and she would have been if not for her own troubles with the dream catcher. She was certain though that despite whatever personal issues she was having, she would be there for Henry if he called out.

Emma diverted her eyes to her dresser. Sighing heavily she got out of her bed and walked over to the dresser picking up the dream catcher.

Sitting on her bed, legs crossed, Emma held the dream catcher in her hands. She was afraid of what she was about to do but the risk not to do it was too great. She feared the coming night with the dream catcher in the same room and though she would face that nightmare it was better now when she had control than when she was sucked into the dream world that the human mind often journeyed to in sleep where there was no control at all.

Emma ran the dream catcher over her body the way she had seen Gold do with Archie's dog, Pongo. It wasn't long before the dream catcher came to life and it was a jumbled mess.

Sighing, Emma looked at the glowing net. 'Let's just get this over with' she said.

Emma began to focus on the dream catcher, began to will the memories inside. There was a lot to sift through, twenty eight years worth but somehow the dream catcher knew which memories to show her. They had been all of the memories she had thought of not too long ago while in the Enchanted Forest. It made the most sense as those were the memories that were most prevalent in her mind, memories that she could never really let go of as hard as she tried.  
After going through several memories, Emma came to the last happy memory she had of Neal. The night they were in the car with the stolen watches. They had been one step closer to finally getting a fresh start. Emma watched as Neal left the car, walking away; away from the life they were ready to have, away from the child that she hadn't been aware that she was carrying, away from her.

Emma turned away and placed the dream catcher down. It was one thing to see the memories play out in her head where they were slightly blurred, another to see them like a homemade movie on a television.

Emma hadn't realized that she'd begun to breathe heavily, a mixture of tears and anger across her face. From the corner of her eye the dream catcher was glowing, this time a shade of black and grays. Emma wasn't even touching it and it was acting as if by its own power. Emma wanted nothing more to do with the dream catcher. It had caused her enough grief. Soon a new color was added to the palate, a navy blue.  
Emma's nightmare began to come to life in the ring. At first she didn't understand what was going on. The image got clearer. The more she wanted it to stop the clearer the images appeared. Her emotions. That's what it was. Though Emma had stopped willing her memories to come, it had been her emotions to trigger the nightmare into focus. Gold had said that she needed to figure out on her own how to extract the dream from the catcher and now she had.  
Hesitantly Emma picked up the dream catcher. As her breathing slowed and her anger faded, the dream catcher stopped playing the memory. In place were shades of purple and a new image emerged.

It was Neal though not in the way Emma had last seen him. He was different now, sadder, older. Emma watched as the older man walked into a small apartment complex. She could see frustration in his eyes as he made his way to the open window, sighing, lowering his head as if bothered by something but Emma didn't understand what.

Quickly Emma tossed the dream catcher to the far side of the room where it landed near her closet. No, she didn't want to know. That part of her life was over, she was done with him. Let him be sad and miserable, she wanted no part of him other than those which she all ready had, but the rest, she didn't care.  
Emma walked back to her bed and turned on her side, forcing sleep to come.

*****

Not far from the town line, a blue beat up Honda passed the 'Welcome to Storybrooke' sign. Neal Cassidy glanced to the passenger seat that was occupied by a worn postcard that had the word 'Broken'.  
In the back seat, underneath an overnight bag lay the yellow dream catcher glowing in purple shades.

*****

Emma watched as the yellow school bus drove away. Though Henry was insistent that he could walk himself to and from school Emma still felt better walking him and plus it gave them a little extra added time to themselves which Emma always enjoyed.  
Once the bus was gone fully from view Emma walked back into Granny's where her parents were seated at a table.  
"Any problems to the bus this morning," Mary Margaret asked.  
Emma shrugged. "Oh you know, the typical complaint of him being old enough to do it himself."  
"He's growing up fast," said David.  
Emma let out a small but sad smile, "Yeah he is."  
"No nightmares last night though," he asked.  
"None," Emma replied. "It seems to be helping."  
Snow took Emma's hand and squeezed it, "And what about you?"  
Emma took a deep breath, "That's debatable."

*****

Ruby came over and placed a cup of hot cocoa on the table in front of Emma. Emma looked up at smiled at her friend or was it aunt? Though Snow and Ruby were not in any way directly related the two were a lot closer to sisters than any two people could be.  
"Thanks Ruby," she said to the woman.  
"Welcome," Ruby said with a smile. "Oh some guy came into the bed and breakfast last night looking for you which I thought was kind of strange since people don't come here. He's actually kind of cute."  
"What guy," Emma asked.  
Ruby pointed him out. "He's sitting right over there."  
As if hearing his name being called Neal turned from around in the seat he was occupying. He gave a warm smile to Emma. Emma on the other hand felt as her heart was going to burst from her chest and shatter and there would be no way to fix it since there were too many pieces.  
Mary Margaret and David both glanced over at the stranger. Tightening her grip on Emma's hand, Mary Margaret turned to her daughter.  
"Emma, what is it?"  
Not being able to find the words or any for that matter, Emma got up from the table and began walking toward the exit.  
Neal placed some cash on the table and called out, "Emma," he said as he followed her out of the diner and across the street.  
Mary Margaret and David looked at each other with concern.

*****

Placing his hands in his pockets he asked, "So was that your little brother or…"  
Emma stopped and turned, facing him, the two standing on the side walk.  
"What the hell are you doing here," she asked him.  
"I came to find you," he said casually.  
Emma wasn't having the casual conversation though. "Now, after ten years you decide to find me now!"  
"I know the timing sucks and…"  
"Yeah the timing does suck. You shouldn't even be here at all."  
"If you would just let me explain, Emma."  
Emma let out an annoyed laugh, "Explain, you want to explain how you just left me there to take the fall for you? You want to explain how you ratted me out to the cops. You want to explain how the hell you left me alone and… Yeah I'm sure there's a real good explanation for that."  
"There is Emma I swear."  
"Whatever it is, I don't care. Stay away from me," she said to him as she turned to walk away.  
"If there wasn't a good explanation," Neal said raising his voice slightly, "Then how do I know those people you were sitting with were your parents?"  
Emma froze in her place.  
"I told you there's a good explanation. You honestly believe that I would hurt you like that? That I would leave you because I wanted to? I never wanted that."  
Emma wanted to turn and look at him, to give him the benefit of the doubt. To hear his explanation as to how he knew that Mary Margaret and David were her parents. If people didn't know Snow White and Prince Charming then usually the first thought was that they were friends. Aurora had thought that once. So how did he?  
"Can we talk, please?"  
Emma wanted to talk to him but she couldn't be sure of her own feelings at the moment. Her mind was racing. It had all ready been a bad night as it was, seeing her memories play out in front of her and now he was actually here.  
It was all too much to handle.  
"I have to get to work," she said not bothering to look at him as she made her way down the side walk.  
Neal could only sigh as she walked away. He wanted to go after her, to tell her everything but he didn't want to seem desperate either. There was no rush. He wasn't planning on going anywhere any time soon.

*****

David stood at Emma's doorway for a few moments and Mary Margaret stood close behind him, both of them watching their daughter work.  
"I don't have to arrest you for chocking the life out of that pen do I?" David asked breaking the silence.  
Emma looked up at him unsure as to what it was he was talking about. David motioned with his head to the pen.  
"And here I thought the pen was mightier than the sword. Any harder and you'll be having to redo those files."  
Emma looked down. She hadn't realized the amount of pressure that her hand was exerting until she dropped the pen and stretched her fingers.  
"You okay?" David asked knowing that was the wrong question to ask. "Things got heated between you and that guy outside of Granny's this morning."  
Emma took a breath. "You saw that hu?"  
"It wasn't that hard to miss."  
Mary Margaret came into the office. "Emma who was he?"  
Emma stood up and gathered the file and stood up. "Just someone from my past," she said walking straight ahead and placing the file in the cabinet.  
Emma continued to lean against the cabinet. She hated the way her head was spinning. It felt like a jumbled mess the way the dream catcher had been before she made the images clear.  
"So that's why he managed to come to Storybrooke," said David, "because of his connection to you."  
"It must be a deep connection," said Mary Margaret. "You told me you've been with other men before so why him?"  
Emma closed her eyes and winced a little.

She wasn't sure if she could do this. She wasn't sure if she was ready. Though she had confided in her parents just last night, now that Neal was back it only complicated things. It was one thing to tell her parents about her life in sparse amounts but another when all of it had to be done at once or on a daily basis.  
For the first time in a while Emma felt like her life was truly starting to fall apart, as if her memories and seeing Neal again were bringing back that seventeen, eighteen year old kid who fell hard in love and wound up pregnant and alone in jail.

Some people could let go of their past, move on, but for others the past was as real as something that happened just yesterday or several hours ago and it was harder to let go.

"He's more than just some guy," Emma said not being able to look at her parents. "He's Henry's father."  
"I'm what?"  
Emma and her parents turned toward the main entrance where Neal was standing.  
"You have got to be kidding," said Emma.

*****

The green metal door slammed, the keys turning in the lock.  
"You're locking me up," said Neal, "What the hell for?"  
"Because I'm sheriff and I can," Emma said disdainfully.  
"Okay Emma, I know we have a lot to talk about but can we go back to the part where you said that I was a father? How did that happen, when did it happen?"  
"My kid," Emma said, "Is none of your concern. And we have nothing to talk about."  
"Emma," said David, "We can't just keep him locked up this way."  
"You can't," Emma replied turning to look at him, "I can. He's staying in there."  
"For how long," Mary Margaret asked.  
Emma looked at Neal and contemplated the question. "I don't know. Eleven months sound good to you Neal?"  
"That's not fair," he answered. "I didn't have a choice."  
"Sure you did. You could have met me like we said but instead you chose to call the cops. I got eleven months because of you."  
"You were the one who suggested on helping me in the first place!"  
"You are so not blaming this on me!"  
"No, Emma," Neal said lowering his head and his voice, "I didn't mean-I'm sorry. If you knew the truth though maybe you wouldn't be so quick to judge."  
"Emma," said Mary Margaret, "Maybe you should hear him out."  
"You don't know him the way I do," Emma answered still looking at Neal.  
"And you don't know me either," Neal replied.  
"You're right," Emma said crossing her arms, "I thought I did but I don't. The man I loved wouldn't have turned his back on me."  
"Emma I'm begging, would you just listen to me, please?"  
"Why should I?"  
"Because it's not what you think. Look at me Emma: you know I'm telling you the truth."  
Emma did look at him. She wanted to believe he was telling the truth but lately Emma was beginning to question her own ability to tell when people were lying. She had been wrong about Regina, at least she had been certain of it, what if she were wrong about Neal too? Could she really bring herself to trust in her gift the way she used to if it was only failing her?  
Emma ignored the doubts in her mind. "I'm listening."  
Neal glanced at David and Mary Margaret. Emma knew he wanted to speak to her alone but she wasn't ready for that.  
"You said you know who they are," said Emma, "They're staying. I'm just going to tell them everything later anyways unless you just want to do us all a favor and stay quiet about it."  
Neal placed his hands in his pockets, "It's fine. I'm glad you have them Emma. After all this time you finally did it."  
"Did what?"  
"Found them, broke the curse."

*****

Emma looked up at Neal and was now intrigued. Though she still had so much anger she was curious as to how Neal could know about the curse she didn't let it show on her face though. Instead she remained stern, arms still crossed.  
"What do you know about it?" Emma asked.  
"You remember that night I left the car?"  
"How could I forget, it's when I got arrested."  
Neal looked down for a moment. Emma wasn't going to make this easy. He knew she wouldn't.  
Though back then she hadn't been nearly as stubborn, there was a part of him that still believed he knew who she was. It only made sense that after everything she believed had happened she would become a harder person. You rarely were the exact same person you were before going in and coming out.  
Neal looked at Emma knowing she was waiting. "I thought the feds had caught up to me. I tried to run but I wasn't fast enough. Turns out it wasn't. The guy said he knew you when you were kids and that it was his job to protect you."  
Emma looked at Neal skeptically but she let him continue. "He knew about you, about the curse, about your parents, about all of it."  
"How," Emma asked him.  
"You'd have to ask him."  
"And who is 'him'?"  
"Said his name was August," Neal answered.  
Emma's heart sank lower. Her mouth dropped a little and Neal could see by the look in her eyes that she knew who it was he was talking about.  
Mary Margaret looked over at Emma, the realization also sinking in for her. Long before her memories returned, Mary Margaret had met and talked with August on several occasions.  
David watched his daughter. She really looked as if any moment she was going to fall apart. David had seen her devastated before, so had Mary Margaret, but neither of them had seen her as broken as this. They wished they could help but there was nothing they could do.  
Emma walked over to the couch and sat on the arm rest.  
"He found me back then," she whispered. "Why didn't he just come to me if it was so damn important," Emma asked her voice on the verge of breaking from anger or grief.  
"I don't know," Neal answered. "Maybe he thought it was easier. Maybe he thought you wouldn't believe him, I don't know but he found me instead. He told me everything."  
Mary Margaret looked at Neal and Emma. "But how did he know," she asked. "We didn't have our memories."  
"Unless," said David, "he came before the curse."  
"Is that even possible," Mary Margaret asked.  
Emma looked at her parents, "You really don't know?" Emma's parents turned to look at their daughter. "August came through the same tree, the same wardrobe that sent me here."  
David and Mary Margaret looked at each other. "That doesn't even make any sense," said Mary Margaret turning back to her daughter, "We were told that the wardrobe only had enough magic for one."  
"Then someone lied," said Emma.  
"Yeah but who," David asked as Neal watched the look of devastation that crossed the faces of him, Emma and Emma's mother. "The blue fairy…mother superior told us that the wardrobe could only send one and it was Gepetto who carved the wardrobe out of the tree."  
Emma shook her head, "We'll deal with that later."

*****

She turned to Neal. Now she was fully committed to hearing him out. She was angry to be sure but now she felt calm enough and had something to focus on and her anger felt like it could be put to the side for a while. "What more did he tell you?"  
"He told me the story of your land. He told me that grandmother was behind the curse." Neal saw as Emma winced a little. "Did I get that part wrong?"  
"Not exactly," said Mary Margaret.  
"It's complicated," Emma said not wanting to get into the complex family tree she had given that her grandmother was also Henry's adoptive mother. None of it made sense.  
Neal went on. "August told me about you, how important you were to breaking the curse so you could not only free everyone but so that you could be reunited with your parents. He wanted to be there for you, guide you but for some reason or another he wasn't around.  
I hated the situation I was in Emma, believe me but I had to make a choice. A choice I didn't want to make."  
"To leave," said Emma.  
"I still could've decided to come back to you, I wanted to more than you could imagine but I couldn't do that, not really. I only would've gotten in the way of what you were meant to do."  
Emma's face turned into a sad smile as she walked toward the cell. "We could've figured it out together, as a family, the…the three of us. Things could've been different. Henry wouldn't have had to grow up without us. We could have given him the life I never had."  
Neal smiled. He wanted to believe that more than anything but instead he just looked at her and said, "You don't know that."  
"And you don't know that we could have tried."  
"It wouldn't have worked Emma," Neal said trying so hard to be realistic.  
He could see Emma begin to ponder the possibilities. He had done that throughout the ten years since he left her, thinking about the possibilities had things turned out differently except that he had never factored in a kid, at least not that early on. As he got older he imagined having everything with Emma: a nice house in Florida, kids of their own, maybe a dog or two. But in the end the what-ifs and the possibilities seemed pointless.  
"It might have."  
Neal reached for Emma's hand that was placed on the bars. Emma wanted to pull away more than anything but she knew there was a part of her that had placed her hand there for a reason and so she left it where it was.  
"I've been there Emma. I've gone through all the possibilities. I've thought about us, about getting a clean start, about us living together in Tallahassee like we planned but it doesn't change things."  
Emma straightened herself up, backing away. She crossed her arms. "You're right, it doesn't. And as far as I'm concerned neither has what you told me. "  
"Emma-," Neal pleaded.  
"I believe you Neal, I do but for ten years I just knew that you betrayed me. I can't just get over that. And things are different now. It's not just about me anymore. I have a son, a son that you left me alone with."  
"Emma I didn't know you were pregnant. August didn't even know and if he did he sure as hell didn't tell me. Had I then I know things would've been different."  
"Well it's like you said, it doesn't change things," Emma said looking at Neal for a short while trying to calm herself.  
"So what are you going to do?" Neal asked as Emma started to walk away.  
She turned to him, "I just need twenty four hours."  
"Twenty four hours?" Neal said not liking the situation.  
"Trust me it's not that bad. You can handle it. I just need some time to think. I can't trust you walking around town. Not when they know who I am and not when my son doesn't even know you don't exist."  
"How does he not know I exist?"  
"That's my business."  
"Can we at least talk about him?"  
"We will just not now. I need some time to clear my head. This is all too much."  
"Okay I can live with that. Can you at least tell me our son's name?"  
Emma let out a sad smile, "It's Henry."  
Emma walked toward the hallway, her parents following close behind leaving Neal alone with his own thoughts.

*****

Emma closed the door to the interrogation room behind her. She began pacing not caring that her parents were outside the door watching through the window. Her head was racing, it had been the past two days and she wanted it to stop but with everything that had happened from messing with the dream catcher to everything that Neal had just told her, she didn't think it was possible at the moment.

Emma stopped at the corner end of the table, her back facing her parents. She wanted to throw something but there wasn't anything around. Gripping the edge of the table with her left hand, with her right Emma brought up her hand and then slammed it on the table, releasing a deep breath along with it.

She heard the door open behind her. Mary Margaret stood next to Emma and rubbed her back.

"I'm fine," said Emma.  
Mary Margaret let out a small smile, "No you're not."  
"I just got overwhelmed that's all."  
"I know you did. It's a lot to take in for anybody."  
"I just never thought I'd see him again. And then to find out that everything I thought I knew was misguided, how many times am I gonna be wrong about stuff like that?"  
"You're human Emma. It's only natural to be. What matters is how you go about dealing with it."  
Emma walked away from Mary Margaret and toward the far end of the room and David came into the room.  
"I'm not even sure how to deal with it. I mean god I told Henry his father was dead! I had planned on telling him the truth when I thought he was old enough but not like this. He all ready knows he was born in jail. How much more trauma can this kid take from me?"  
David took a step forward, "Emma its okay. Just a few months ago your world shifted when you broke the curse and landed in the Enchanted Forest. You can deal with this, we all can.  
"You lied to protect him," said Mary Margaret.  
"Protect him from what? Everything I thought I knew is invalid now. Despite the trouble we got into, it turns out Neal isn't the bad guy I thought he was. And as much as I want to hate him for turning me in, as much as I have hated him for the past ten years, I can't anymore because he was just trying to do right by me."  
"But you didn't know that then," Mary Margaret said to her.  
"It doesn't matter. Henry's going to hate me."  
"No he won't," said David. "Sure the kid might be angry but you're his mother. He can never hate you."  
"And remember," said Mary Margaret, "Henry came to find you, not the other way around. If he didn't want you in his life he wouldn't have gone to look. This parenting thing, it is hard but we're getting through it. We can get through this too, you can."  
"Maybe he shouldn't have come to find me."  
"Emma," Mary Margaret said, "You can't honestly believe that?"  
Emma shook her head. No she didn't. Had Henry never found Emma she wouldn't have been brought here to Storybrooke, the curse never would have been broken, she never would have found her parents, etcetera, etcetera.  
Emma cursed herself for playing the what-if game. She had done it several times in the Enchanted Forest and twice in less than several hours now. It was useless. Emma could not imagine her life without Henry now. He had been the best thing to happen to her.  
"How do I tell him," Emma asked in an almost whisper.  
Mary Margaret walked over and took Emma's hands in hers. "By gathering the same strength you had last night when you told us. You're strong enough for this Emma."  
"It doesn't feel that way."  
"I know but you are."  
Emma looked up at Mary Margaret and smiled. The woman had always been a good source of strength even before they found out they were related. Somehow Mary Margaret always managed to make things better.  
David was that way too. Though her relationship with him had been different before the curse broke, David had become that other half of strength that had been missing.  
The parenting thing was hard on all of them but Emma had to give it to David and Mary Margaret, they were doing a better job at it than she was.

*****

Silverware clanked on the glass plates. The dinner table was eerily silent.  
Having had enough of the silence Henry asked, "Did someone else die?"  
Emma looked at Mary Margaret and then at Henry.  
"No of course not," said Emma. "Why would you ask that, Henry?"  
Henry shrugged, "I don't know. I guess because you guys have been acting all strange since I got home from school and now no one is talking. It's just weird."  
Mary Margaret and David looked at Emma as she took a deep breath. The looks didn't go unnoticed.  
"Something happened didn't it?"  
Emma turned to her son and placed a hand on his. "Yes but it's not what you think."  
"Then what is it?"  
"You know I love you right?"  
"I know."  
"And you know I would do anything to protect you, keep you safe?" Henry nodded. "Henry, you remember that day when you asked me about your father?"  
Henry nodded again, "You said he died in a fire. You said he was a hero."  
Emma's eyes turned sad as she took a breath.  
"We'll let the two of you talk alone," Mary Margaret said getting up from the table along with David. As they did so they gathered the dishware that was on the table.  
Emma nodded her thanks. She waited a moment as her parents made their way to put the dishes in the sink and then went to their bedroom, closing the door behind them.  
"I wasn't exactly honest with you Henry. It's bad enough you have one parent who was a criminal, I didn't want you to think less of me or your dad to find out you had two."  
"So he wasn't a fireman?"  
"No."  
"He was a criminal like you?"  
"Yes."  
So you lied to me."  
"I'm sorry Henry. I know it doesn't make me any better than Regina right now," Emma said looking away from him.  
"Why do adults always do that," Henry said starting to get upset, "Why do they always lie? Why can't they just tell the truth? Is it really that hard?"  
"I'm afraid it is kid."  
Henry looked up at Emma causing her to look up at him as well. "Why did you lie to me?"  
"When you asked me about your father I got scared and I felt ashamed. I thought by lying I was protecting you and I was protecting myself."  
"From what exactly?"  
"My past; it's not exactly something to be proud of."  
"So can you tell me what really happened, no lies this time? What's his name? How did you and he meet?"  
Emma looked up at Henry. Was this really the same kid she had given birth to eleven years ago? He was so mature for his age at times. Always taking things in stride instead of being one to lash out or run to their room and slam the door.  
Emma had known him to do that on occasion at Regina's house but even with her when he caught her in a lie he had confronted her about it, never backing down.  
"His name is Neal Cassidy. I met him when I was seventeen. I was living in Portland, Oregon at the time when I stole the bug. Your father was living in the car at the time. He surprised me much like someone else I know," Emma said giving Henry a little smirk.  
Henry just smiled proud of that moment and happy that he had inherited something from his father and Emma continued.  
"Turns out the car didn't belong to him either. For a while we were together, partners in crime, that sort of thing."  
"Did you love him?"  
Emma looked at her son. Leave it to Henry to always ask the direct and uncomfortable questions.  
"For a time I thought I did but things didn't turn out so well. I got into some more trouble only this time I got caught and your father was gone. I never saw him after that. I'm sorry I lied to you Henry. I had planned on telling you the truth about him when you were older."  
"So why are you telling me now?"  
Emma took another deep breath. "He's here Henry, in Storybrooke."  
Henry's eyes lit up as Emma had feared. "What's he doing here? Can I meet him?"  
"Whoa one thing at a time Henry. He came to find me."  
"Why, if he left you all those years ago? Does that mean he still loves you?"  
"That's where things get complicated. He knows about me, about the curse. He knew back then too."  
"So he didn't leave you because he was being a jerk, he left so you could find your way to breaking the curse."  
Emma looked at Henry and smiled. "Mary Margaret was right, you are a special boy. Are you sure you're my kid?"  
Henry shrugged, "Well I did steal from grams so I could find you and I did hide in the car like Neal did."  
"Guess stealing runs in the family. Sorry about that kid. Speaking of which, why did you steal from Mary Margaret? I never really asked that. You could've taken the money from anyone, why her?"  
"Because she's family," Henry said as if it wasn't really a big deal. "I thought that would be okay even if no one believed me. So what are we going to do about Neal?"  
"We?"  
"Yeah, he's here in Storybrooke now. It's not like there's a lot of places he can hide so I'm bound to see him around aren't I?"  
"Yeah about that."

*****

"You locked him up in jail!" Henry said after Emma had told her son where his father was staying.  
By then Mary Margaret and David had come out of the room now that the hard part was over.  
Emma looked at her parents and back at Henry.  
"I was upset. I didn't know the whole story at the time."  
"But now that you know the truth he's still locked up," said Henry.  
"It's not like he doesn't still deserve it," Emma said a little harsher than she intended.  
"Can we go see him?"  
"Henry it's late and you have to get to bed."  
"Please?"  
"He's not going anywhere. I promise we'll go first thing tomorrow morning."  
"Fine," Henry said sounding defeated.  
"Go get ready. I'll be up in a bit."  
Before Henry went upstairs he placed his arms around his mother, hugging her. Emma smiled as she rested her chin on the top of his head.  
"What was that for," Emma asked when her boy released her.  
"For telling me the real truth about him this time," said Henry.  
"You're not mad?"  
Henry shrugged. "A little but we're going to see Neal tomorrow. That kind of makes up for it."  
Before Emma could say anything more Henry raced upstairs to get ready for bed. Emma smiled as she watched him go.

Chapter 12: Familes are Complicated

*****

By 7 A.M. Emma and Henry walked into the sheriff station.  
Henry had woken his mom up at six, anxious to get the day started. He didn't even have to eat breakfast, only grabbing half a pop tart on the way out. Emma barely had time to get coffee.  
All night Emma had been dreading this moment, the moment when her son would finally meet the man who got her pregnant eleven years ago. As the two walked toward the offices and two jail cells, Emma placed her hands on Henrys' shoulders.  
"You up," Emma asked Neal who lay on the bed.  
"Been up for an hour," he said looking up at the ceiling. "Not much to do in here. You know you really should put a shelf with some books in here or something."  
"I'll get right on that," Emma said sarcastically. "Come on Neal, get up. I brought someone for you to meet."  
Neal sat up now suddenly curious. Who would want to meet him? He supposed it could be anyone. It was a small town so many people were likely to know about the stranger that came into town.  
Turning to his left he saw Emma standing with a boy, her hands resting on his shoulders, guarding him, protecting him. Neal stood up. Though he knew about Henry as of yesterday it was a completely different experience to see him in person.  
"Is this-," Neal said not being able to get the words out.  
"This is Henry, my…our son."  
Neal smiled at Henry. "Hey Henry."  
"Hi," Henry replied. Henry moved his head to the side studying him. "I always thought I got my looks from Emma's side of the family. I think I may have gotten some from you too."  
"You did kid," said Emma moving to stand on Henry's right side, leaving one hand on his shoulder. "Trust me."  
Neal looked at Emma. "You never thought to mention that to him?"  
"I never had a reason to considering things."  
Neal placed his hands in his pockets. "Fair enough I guess."  
"Not really," said Henry. "She told me you were dead."  
This time Neal's eyes bulged a bit wide, "You told him what!" he said at the same time Emma said, "Henry!"  
"Why would you tell him something like that?"  
"It seemed like a good idea at the time."  
"Telling our son that I was dead seemed like a good idea?"  
"I was still angry at you. Not to mention the kid all ready has a couple of thieves on my side of the family. Telling him there was another in it didn't seem like the best option."  
"Family," Neal said with hope in his voice.  
Emma threw him a look, "Don't start."  
"I'm standing right here you know," Henry said.  
He could sense the tension but he was also amused by it. This wasn't a side of Emma he had really seen before.  
"I'm sorry your mom lied to you buddy," said Neal.  
Henry just shrugged.  
"Why are you apologizing to him," Emma asked Neal. "It's my fault for lying." Emma looked at her son. "I really am sorry Henry."  
"It's okay. I don't like that you lied but you were just trying to protect me."  
"Where did he get the brains," Neal asked. "I know that wasn't from me."  
"His grandparents," Emma said, "That and his endless optimism."  
"Guess it skipped a generation didn't it," Neal said.  
Emma threw him a look but before she could comment on it Henry spoke up.  
"You won't do that again will you?"  
"Never Henry," said Emma. "I'll probably screw up every now and then since I'm still getting a hang on this whole mom thing but I won't lie to you again, ever."  
Neal looked at Henry and then at Emma. "What do you mean you're still getting used to the whole mom thing?"  
Henry looked down feeling guilty even though the words had come from Emma and not him.  
"Emma," said Neal as he thought back to yesterday. "You said that you wished things could've been different, that Henry wouldn't have had to grow up without us. And now this; what's going on, what do you mean?"  
Emma took a deep breath. "We have a lot to talk about."  
"Can you let him out then," Henry asked. "Neal hasn't done anything wrong, not really. He's only in here because you're mad at him. And I am getting kind of hungry."  
Emma gave Henry a look and then turned to Neal. "It's too much to ask for you to leave Storybrooke isn't it?"  
"Not gonna happen," said Neal. "Not as long as we still have things to talk about and I'd like to get to know my son."  
"I'd like to get to know you too," said Henry.  
Damn out-numbered Emma thought. "Fine," Emma said reaching in her pocket for her keys, "But just so we're clear I still hate you right now."  
Neal smiled, "No you don't. Even when you're mad you can't hate me, not really. You don't have a hatred bone in your body. Tough exterior now maybe but never hate."  
"And whose fault was that I wonder?" Emma said as she unlocked the cell door.  
"You were bound to develop it anyways," said Neal as he exited the cell. "You can't be a hero without it. All great superheroes have that and all great superheroes have a heart too." Neal looked at Henry. "So where are we going for breakfast?"

Henry smiled at Neal and Emma just rolled her eyes a bit. She hated that Neal was right about her. Even though it had been ten years and she had changed, he still knew the core of whom she was and that bugged her because other than her family no one had really pegged her that well. There had been one exception but as immediate as that exception came to her mind it was also gone.

Not saying a word Emma followed as Henry led the two of them to Granny's. Emma was glad she left the bug at the apartment. Smiling to herself she let Henry take shotgun and placed Neal in the back seat. She wasn't done with him yet and he knew it as he just smiled as he got in.

*****

The diner felt slightly awkward as Emma, Neal and Henry walked in. There were no customers. Ruby, Leroy, Granny, and Emma's parents all stood at the far counter where the orders were placed. Ruby and Granny didn't look particularly happy as they walked in and neither did Leroy but he was the exception. He was always Grumpy.  
Emma looked at her son. "Henry why don't you two take a seat, I'll join you guys in a minute."  
Henry nodded, "Okay."  
Emma walked over to the small group and crossed her arms.  
"What's going on," she asked them.  
"It's about that stranger you brought here," said Leroy.  
The trio all looked in Neal's direction and Emma's parents looked at her.  
At the far table Neal could sense their stares burning holes in his back but he didn't turn to look. Instead he focused on Henry.  
"Why do I get the feeling I'm not welcome here?"  
"Don't take it personally," said Henry. "They just don't like strangers in this town."  
"What about him," Emma asked Ruby.  
Ruby started walking toward the back room and the others followed.

*****

"Okay," she said. "I know just yesterday I said the guy was cute but seriously he doesn't belong here. Random people just don't come to Storybrooke out of nowhere."  
"Unless," said Leroy, "By bringing magic here Rumpelstiltskin broke whatever it was that kept people out of here."  
"Or it could've been by breaking the curse," said Ruby, "Not that we're not grateful," she added to Emma.  
Emma looked at Mary Margaret and David. "You didn't tell them?"  
Mary Margaret had her arms crossed, "We thought it would be best coming from you."  
"Tell us what," Ruby asked.  
Emma sighed. "Neal isn't just some random guy. He has a connection here."  
"Which is what," Leroy asked unsure as to where this was going.  
"Me," said Emma taking a deep breath, "And Henry." She looked up at the group. "He's Henry's father."  
The three of them were left shocked and speechless.  
"You're joking," said Leroy clearly not amused by the new revelation.  
"He's been out of Henry's life for eleven years," said Ruby, "Why now?"  
Emma shot Ruby a look. Emma had taken Ruby's words personally as an insult and as a reminder that she hadn't been a part of the first ten years of Henry's life.  
"Sorry," Ruby said meaning it and diverted her gaze from her…who she considered to be a niece of sorts.  
"How did he even know you were in Storybrooke," Granny asked.  
"A friend told him," Emma replied.  
"Even if that's true," said Ruby, "How did he know to come now?"  
Emma looked to the door. Though she couldn't see them she could feel her boys on the other side of it, waiting for her. A part of her hated that this little intervention was taking too long. She wanted to be with Henry and in a weird way despite all of her conflicted emotions she wanted to be with Neal too. She hated that feeling.  
"I don't know. We still have a lot to talk about." She turned back to look at them, "but I promise you don't have to worry about him."  
"Yeah right," said Leroy in a sarcastic tone, "We don't even know the guy, how are we supposed to trust him? And regardless of your connection to him he's still an outsider."  
"I'm not asking you to trust him. I'm asking you to trust me. Believe me I know that strangers' coming to Storybrooke is a bad thing for all of us. If it were anyone else I would normally agree but this is Neal. I shared a car with the guy for months before we ever got…close." Emma registered the looks her parents were giving her. "Long story," she said to them quickly dropping on it and not wanting to expand.  
"Look, I may be conflicted about a lot of things right now but I'm not conflicted when it comes to my son. I all ready lied to Henry about his father once, I owe it to him to get the chance to know his dad if that's what he wants." Emma took a deep breath as she slowly worded the next part. "And I owe it to Neal too as much as I hate to admit it."  
"Maybe so but-," said Leroy but he was cut off.  
"I'll keep an eye on him," said Emma, "but I promise you have nothing to worry about from him."  
"With all due respect Emma," said David. "You don't even know him anymore, you said so yourself."  
"I may not know him like I used to but there's still a part of him that I do know. The same way he still knows parts of me. And I do know I can trust him. All the things he's said up to this point haven't been lies, if they were I'd know it. I'm asking you to trust me, please."  
David crossed his arms as he looked at Mary Margaret. She gave him a nod and a small smile. David then turned his attention back to Emma.  
"Okay. Just promise me you'll be careful. This guy seems like he's hurt you enough. I don't want you to get hurt again."  
Emma smiled at David's kind fatherly words. "I know."

*****

The diner was beginning to fill up with a few people as Emma casually walked to the table where Neal and Henry were waiting.  
"Everything okay," Neal asked as Emma took a seat.  
"Everything's fine," Emma replied.  
"They don't want me here do they," Neal asked.  
"I don't want you here," said Emma, "but it doesn't matter. You are so everyone's just going to have to deal with that."  
"I want him here," said Henry ignoring Emma's hostility toward Neal.  
Emma couldn't help but roll her eyes and Neal just smiled at her expression.  
Ruby walked over with a pad of paper and a pen. "Hey guys," she said with a smile, "What can I get you?"  
The trio placed their orders and Ruby went off to get them squared away.  
"So what have you two been talking about?" Emma asked.  
"Neal told me about how you two met," said Henry, "So I know you didn't lie to me about that."  
Emma sighed. She never was going to live her big lie down was she?  
"Anything else," asked Emma. "No embarrassing stories right?"  
"He told me how you two went out for drinks that first night after you met and how you made him try the hot chocolate with cinnamon.*"  
At that moment Ruby had brought over the drinks. A glass orange juice for Neal and two cups of hot chocolate sprinkled with cinnamon.  
"Thanks Ruby," Emma said with a smile.  
Henry looked at Emma, "Neal said that the only way you would go out with him again was if he tried it."  
"He's right. Your dad only likes his chocolate plain."  
"Gross," said Henry.  
Neal looked at Henry and smiled and then turned to Emma with the same smile. "After all these years you still drink it that way," he said to her.  
Emma smiled at him, "No other way."  
Henry took a sip of his as well.  
"And I see our kid picked up on that little habit as well."  
Emma shrugged as if it was no big deal, "It's a family quirk. My mom drinks it the same way as well."  
"What's that been like," Neal asked. "Finding your parents I mean?"  
Emma took a second sip, "It's been an adjustment. It's not every day you find out your parents are the people you grew up reading as a kid much less believe in any of it."  
"I did," said Henry.  
Emma smiled at Henry and Neal looked at his boy, curious.  
"It's kind of a long story," said Emma as she noticed the look on Neal's face. It seemed everything was now. There was so much catching up to do.  
"Well I'm not going anywhere," said Neal.  
Emma looked at him, studying him, "You're not are you?"  
"Do you really think I will?"  
"I keep expecting you to. You did leave once before," Emma said bringing the cup to her lips.  
"For you," said Neal as Ruby came over with the breakfast plates.  
"Still doesn't change the fact that you left."  
"But I'm here now," said Neal, "Shouldn't that be okay?"  
"I'm not sure," Emma replied. "That's actually what worries me."  
Neal wanted to ask Emma more about what she meant but instead Emma turned to Henry.  
"Hey kid, why don't you tell Neal about how you knew the fairytale stuff was real?"

Henry smiled at his mom grateful that she let him tell that story.

The three of them continued with their breakfast and small conversation. Henry was adamant on filling Neal in about all things related to the Enchanted Forest even telling him that Emma was born there.

He talked about the evil queen's curse but he never mentioned Regina exactly nor the fact that he was adopted and for that Emma was more than grateful. It was a conversation that she had wanted to have with Neal herself.

Despite her own conflict with having Neal here, Emma couldn't help but admit the simple truth to herself that she was enjoying this moment. She had always dreamed of having this kind of moment. It was one she dreamt of the night she found out she was pregnant with Henry.

And now, like the dream of being with her own parents, this was a dream that had become a reality. Could one really have it all? Could Emma really have both the family she was born into and the family that she had created?  
Emma shook her head. No. She was doing it again. She was going into the what-if scenarios again. She had to be realistic. And the reality was that while Neal was here now there was no guaranteeing he would remain.

She would keep an eye on him like she told the others she would. She would not allow him to hurt Henry or herself. She couldn't afford that pain again.

*****

David and Mary Margaret came up their family and Neal.  
"How's it going," Mary Margaret asked.  
Emma looked at Neal, "Well I haven't killed him yet."  
"That's good to know," Mary Margaret replied with a smile.  
Neal smirked at Emma, "And you're not going to."  
Emma shrugged, "We'll see. Neal, you remember Mary Margaret and David, my parents."  
Neal nodded, "We haven't officially met," he said extending a hand to Mary Margaret and then David, "but of course, I remember."  
David nodded at Neal and then turned to Henry, "You ready to go kid?"  
Henry stood up and grabbed his bag that was hanging over his chair. "Ready," he replied.  
"Where're you off to," Neal asked.  
"Have to go take care of my horse," Henry answered.  
"You have a horse?" Neal said looking at Henry and then Emma.  
"Hey don't look at me," she said to him, "David got it for him while I was back in Fairytale Land."  
Emma stood up and Neal followed suit.  
"Henry," she said to her boy, "I'll pick you up later. And I have to get to work."  
"So you really are the sheriff," said Neal.  
"What did you think me throwing you in jail, the squad car, was all for kicks?"  
"No I just find it hard to believe that the thieving orphan* has gotten on the right side of the law."  
Emma gave Neal a smirk.  
"How did that happen anyways," Neal asked.  
Emma just shrugged, "A position opened up and I took it."  
"But don't you have to be elected for that kind of stuff?"  
Emma took a deep breath. She really wasn't in the mood to get into how she got the job.  
Mary Margaret took the helm on this one instead, "Emma was the deputy for a while but when the previous sheriff died the town held elections and Emma won."  
"He didn't just die," Henry said his own tone getting harsh. "He was killed by my mom."  
Neal froze. Emma killed him? There was no way she could do such a thing. How could she kill someone and still be the sheriff. What kind of town was this?  
"Not Emma," said Henry before Emma could defend herself, "My adoptive mom."  
"Okay kid," Emma said stopping Henry as Neal looked at her in shock before Henry could add anything more, "You and David should probably get going. And now I really need to head to the office."  
Emma walked out of Granny's and Neal called out to her, "Emma, wait a minute!" he said following her.  
David took a deep breath and slightly smiled, "Things sure are going to get interesting around here aren't they?"  
"As if they weren't all ready," said Mary Margaret.  
David shook his head and placed a hand on Henry's back, "Come on Henry, let's go."  
"But what about Emma," Henry asked.  
"We should probably let her handle this one on her own."  
Henry simply sighed as he and David walked out. Mary Margaret smiled at the boys and made her way over to the counter to chat with Ruby for a bit.

*****

Outside of the diner Emma stood on the driver's side of the squad car.  
"Aren't we going to talk about this?" Neal asked.  
"Talk about what?"  
"You know what."  
"I have to get to work, are you getting in or not?"'  
"That depends, do I go in the front or in the back?"  
"Neal, just get in the damn car."  
Henry looked at David, "Are you sure they won't need backup?" he asked as they watched Emma along with Neal drive away, having caught the tail end of their conversation.  
"Trust me Henry, its better that we stay out of this one."

*****

Emma unlocked the door to her office and Neal followed behind her.  
"Are you done giving me the silent treatment," Neal asked, the two of them not having said a word in the car on the way over. "Are we ever going to talk?"  
"About what?"  
"You know what Emma! First you tell me that you wished Henry didn't have to grow up without us, and then you tell Henry that you're still getting the hang of the mom thing, and then I find out from Henry no less that he was adopted. What all am I missing?"  
"Close to eleven years worth Neal."  
"That's not fair."  
"Yeah well what is?"  
"What happened, Emma? You gave up Henry for adoption; I guess I'm just trying to understand."  
"It's not that complicated," Emma said standing near the corner of her desk. "I had Henry when I was eighteen and in jail because of you."  
"Yeah well you'd think after what happened to you, you would've decided to keep him."  
"Hey, you don't get to judge me! I did what I thought was right at the time. I still had two months left to go on my sentence. I didn't have a plan on what to do once I got out. I knew Henry deserved better than me. I wanted to give him his best chance."  
"You could've kept him. The money should've helped."  
"What money?"  
"The money that I fenced for the watches," said Neal. "I sent it along with the car. It was at least several thousand dollars. August said-,"  
"Wait you gave the money to August?"  
"Yeah what was wrong with that?"  
Emma couldn't help hold back her smile, "August. You left several thousand dollars with him, trusting that he would get it to me."  
"Help me out here Emma, what are you getting at?"  
"For someone who knew about the curse and most of the details you clearly had no idea who you were dealing with did you? As good a friend as August W. Booth is, he can't be trusted. Neal, he's Pinocchio."  
"Pinocchio? The kid who can't lie but does so anyway and whose nose will grow when he does?"  
"Yeah him, only his nose doesn't grow, he just turns back to wood."  
Neal placed his hands in his pockets, "Guess I screwed up that one didn't I?"  
"Either way I don't think it would have mattered. Even had that helped keeping Henry was never really an option. What I did sucks and I hate that I wasn't there for him the same way my parents hate that they weren't there for me. I really thought he would be okay so for years I never allowed myself to think about him because I wanted to believe that he was."  
"What made you change your mind?"  
Emma went over to her desk and took seat. "He did actually. Less than a year ago Henry stole Mary Margaret's credit card so he could find me. When I saw he didn't have the kind of life I had hoped for I ended up staying."  
Neal took a seat across from Emma.  
"Was he treated badly or something?"  
"Not physically. It's all complicated and kind of a mess really but I knew something wasn't right. I stayed to make sure he was okay. Things changed and now I've got my kid back."  
"I want the same thing Emma."

*****

Emma stood up and walked to the front door. "You just got here. You don't know what you want."  
Neal followed Emma out of the office as she went to the file cabinet.  
"Yes I do. I've never been more certain of anything since that day in the hotel room when I said what I wanted was you."  
"And look how well that turned out," Emma said not at all liking the direction the conversation was going.  
"I screwed up on a lot of things and I'm really sorry Emma but I don't want to screw this up. I came here for you the same way you came here for Henry. And now that I know I want him as well. I want the chance to get to know my son and I want to start over with you. I've wanted that for nearly eleven years haven't you?"  
"No," Emma said which she and Neal both knew was a lie.  
"What I want is you and I mean that."  
"Don't do this Neal."  
"Why not?"  
"Because it's too complicated. You don't know what you'd be getting yourself into. I'm not just any girl anymore."  
"I've always known that."  
"You just got here," Emma said repeating, "We don't even know each other anymore, we can't just start something as if the past eleven years didn't matter."  
"I think we can. That thing between us is still there Emma. I know you feel it. Why else would you wear the keychain around your neck?"  
Emma gasped. Though she had always hung onto it, there were some days when it became just like a regular necklace with no special meaning.  
Neal took a step forward and smiled.  
"Don't," Emma said wanting to fight him off but she couldn't.  
The closer Neal stepped the more her heart raced. She hadn't felt like this in a very long time. She had forgotten what real love was like. Men came in and out of her life but she never allowed herself to feel anything, she was numb to them. She wanted to be numb to Neal but she couldn't. A fire raced inside her, one she hadn't felt since she was with him when she was seventeen.  
True love wasn't easy in this world. It wasn't easy the way it was back in the Enchanted Forest. Though those romances had their struggles they always knew that once true love was found that was it, there could be no other.

Emma had believed that to be the case when she was young and in love but then life happened and it got turned upside down again. A curse or Gold taking advantage of her life had nothing to do with keeping her and her love apart, it was just unfortunate circumstances.

Neal took another step closer, Emma was trapped, her back against the cabinet.

He smiled as he looked down at her face, tracing every line, every feature into his thoughts. She was so beautiful, more so than she had been eleven years ago. Gone were the adorable glasses that gave her a look of youthful innocence. Now in place were deep set green eyes with a wisdom that seemed beyond her years. She had changed to be certain and not just in beauty alone. It only made him love her more.

Neal leaned down and slowly placed his lips onto hers. Internally Emma was fighting with part of herself. This was wrong, she knew it was wrong. He had only been back in her life for a day and yet it seemed that time didn't matter. She slowly began to form her lips to shape his. It was a sensation she had not felt in years. She had been kissed by other men before but they were nameless, faceless, meaningless. Neal on the other hand; with him everything about him felt right.  
Emma wrapped her arms around Neal's neck, and Neal kept her pinned to the cabinet, his arms holding onto the edge of them, their kiss getting more forceful, deeper as their tongues caressed the inside of each other's mouths. Despite her hate and despite her anger, Emma had longed for this for years since the day he departed.

*****

They were so lost that it now seemed like nothing could stop this moment, almost nothing.  
"Um," Mary Margaret said clearing her throat.  
Neal and Emma were too lost within each other that they didn't hear her.  
This time David cleared his throat.  
"Should we maybe come back later," Mary Margaret asked as the couple stopped their make out session.  
Emma could feel a blush coming on for a moment before her face turned to that of guilt and shame.  
"Damn you Neal," she whispered to him as she shoved him off.  
Emma walked away from him and past her parents not even acknowledging what had just happened. She needed to get away from everything. She knew she was reverting in part by running away from the problem but it seemed like the best option at this point.

*****

Emma didn't feel like taking the cruiser so instead she walked the couple of blocks where her bug was parked. Another reminder of Neal but it was better to have the bug than for people to think she was going off on official sheriff business.  
She got in and began driving. There was only one place in mind that she wanted to be and so she floored her bug as fast as it would go. Emma eventually came to her destination and made the right turn that led out of Storybrooke.

*****

Emma took a deep breath as she guided her yellow bug into a parallel parking space at Chantey's Lobster House. She sighed as she got out of the car. The last time she had been here had been with August when he had tried to convince her about the truth of her own story, a time when she didn't believe any of it.  
She looked at the building. She hadn't come to eat. Locking her car she made her way across the street and into the woods on the other side of the highway. It was still daylight so it felt different.

Going deeper, Emma found what she was looking for: the tree with a hole carved out. At the time of her first visit she had never really allowed herself to examine it. It had been just a tree but now it had become more than that. It was a part of her, the vessel that had helped bring her to this world.

Emma caressed the edges of the tree. She felt the soft wooden bottom that had most likely been her resting place before August pulled her out. Emma had never really allowed herself to think of the importance of this tree until now. To anyone else it was just a damaged tree but it was more than that to her now. Without it she never would have come here. She would've been cursed like her parents.

Though Emma had told her parents that being cursed wouldn't have been a bad thing, because they would've been together, now Emma wasn't quite so sure about that. She had seen the damage of what the curse had done to families. Maybe had she been cursed too she and her parents would've been separated regardless. David and Mary Margaret had been.

Emma took a seat on the ground, her back resting against the tree. Closing her eyes Emma wanted so much to erase the last near forty-eight hours. Having Neal come back into her life after eleven years was messing with her head in a way she felt she couldn't deal with.

It was bad enough that he had kissed her and she had all but given in. Had her parents not arrived she wasn't even sure what she and Neal would've done. She shuddered at the thought.

*****

"Interesting tree isn't it," a young woman said to Emma.  
Emma opened her eyes, blinking. She wasn't sure what time it was but if she had to guess, at least half an hour to an hour had passed at most.  
In front of Emma stood a young girl roughly in her mid twenties. She had a small frame, deep set brown eyes, and her skin was an off tan brown. Her arm muscles protruded through a black shirt that was tucked into a pair of jeans which led downward to brown leather hiking boots. She wore a tan jacket and around her neck was a necklace that didn't hang too low.  
"Sorry," she said, "I didn't mean to startle you."  
Emma stood up, "It's okay. Guess I just wasn't expecting anyone out here."  
"Not many people hit the woods," said the girl. "I wasn't expecting anyone out here either." She stuck out her hand. "River Stone," she said.  
Emma shook her hand, "Emma Swan."  
River nodded, "Nice."  
Emma just shrugged and River turned back to the tree. "Interesting isn't it?"  
"It's just a tree."  
"It's a lot more than that. Can you imagine the kind of energy it would take to exert that kind of breakage? Normally it doesn't take much but this isn't just some ordinary tree."  
"I'm pretty sure it is."  
River looked at Emma and smiled. "There's something special about it. We all have our special place, that retreat we need to go to when life doesn't make the most sense. If we didn't you wouldn't be here."  
Emma crossed her arms, "You're here."  
"I'm just passing through," said River. "The tree caught my attention. Something tells me this place belongs to you though."  
"What are you some kind of philosopher?"  
"Spiritual naturalist actually," River said with a smile. "You'd be surprised at what her world has to offer. All you have to do is let yourself feel it, let yourself be still and quiet for a moment and just listen. Take this place for example. There's energy here. It's different than the rest of the forest I've walked, almost sacred. It radiates from a small perimeter to the tree itself. Surely you can feel it."  
Emma looked at River. She wanted to be skeptical of the young woman but she was having a hard time with that, "Why me?"  
River shrugged even though she had a clear answer in mind. She decided to be a little more cryptic in her reply. "Aren't we all beings of a life force, that energy that radiates inside all of us?"  
"Sure I guess."  
River smiled again. "You came here for a reason Emma," River said to her, "Same reason I hike these woods and others like it. You want answers. Sometimes when we can't find the answers we seek in those who surround us we have to look elsewhere, sometimes in the very place that birthed us."  
Emma turned and looked hard at River. What did this girl know? How was it she was getting into her head?  
River continued as if Emma's hard stare didn't mean anything. "It's in that place that we find the answer was there all along. We just need to retreat and take a step back from all the noise that clouds our thoughts even if those thoughts are the noise themselves. They just need to be ironed out basically."  
"You're not exactly from around here are you," Emma asked.  
"No, from out west actually," said River. "I just like to travel."  
"That's not exactly what I meant," Emma said in more of a whisper, "but okay. And your family is okay with that?"  
"Don't have any. You remember what that's like, don't you?"  
Emma was starting to feel herself get frustrated. The girl was being so enigmatic and yet she seemed to know a lot about her. Either that or being a naturalist just made the girl a lot more intune with her surroundings than most.  
Either way Emma couldn't help but ask, "Okay who the hell are you?" Emma asked.  
"Just a drifter."  
"You're more than that."  
"Does it really matter if I am?"  
"Maybe," said Emma.  
"Trust me I'm one of the good guys, you have nothing to fear from me."  
"Yeah I've heard that one. You're awfully young to have such insight. No offense."  
"None taken," River replied, "I've just had a lot of life experience, same as you."  
"You're really not going to tell me who you are?"  
"Who I am does not matter. Listen to your heart Emma, you will understand. You will find the answers you seek."  
River nodded and made her way to woods to the east leaving Emma in thought.  
She replayed some of the words that River had said to her, the final words being "listen to your heart, you will understand."  
Emma looked at the now empty woods and then back at the tree.  
It couldn't be could it? How was that even possible? Emma looked at the tree; but then how was a wardrobe able to transport a baby and seven year old and blast a hole in a tree?  
Emma sighed and stayed for a while longer but she knew she had her answers. It was time to go home.

*****

Emma fiddled with the keys in her hand as she made her way out of the woods. By the looks of things she had been out there longer than she thought. As she got in her car she looked at the clock. The time didn't seem right but she was certain it was.  
Had she really been gone from Storybrooke since 10 AM? It had taken her an hour drive to arrive and would take an hour to get back. She would barely make it back to Henry having told him she would pick him up from the stables in the afternoon.

*****

Though Emma had been in Storybrooke for months she hadn't known where the stables were until recently.  
She made her way up the dirt road where Henry was standing in front of one of the buildings.  
"I was getting ready to call David," Henry said when he got in the car.  
"Sorry about that Henry. I lost track of time."  
"Have you seen Neal?"  
"Not since this morning, why," Emma asked.  
"He came looking for you earlier."  
Emma sighed. Of course he would go looking. They hadn't exactly left things on the best of terms.  
"Your parents came looking for you too," said Henry.  
"I'll talk to them when we get home."  
"Are you okay, you seem kind of…off," Henry said noticing her demeanor.  
"It's just been a long day that's all."  
"Does it have anything to do with Neal?"  
"Henry, what exactly did Neal say to you?"  
"Not much, he was kind of vague. Just that you were pretty mad when you left him at the station this morning. What happened?"  
Emma sighed. She wasn't going to get into this with Henry at least not into the specifics.  
"Your dad and I just have different ways of dealing with things that's all."  
Henry nodded. He would take that answer for now but he knew there was something else going on.

*****

The door to the apartment opened. David stood up from the table quickly as did Mary Margaret who crossed her arms in front of her.  
"Am I in trouble," Henry asked as he and Emma walked into the apartment.  
Emma sighed, "No kid, I think I am. Why don't you go upstairs and work on some homework for tomorrow. I'll be up to check it in a while."  
"Fine I get the hint, I'm going."  
Emma smiled as she watched Henry retreat upstairs to his room. Her smile quickly faded as she turned to face her parents.  
"Where've you been," Mary Margaret asked. "We tried calling, we tried texting."  
"I went for drive, tossed the phone in the backseat," Emma answered as she made her way over to the kitchen. "I needed to clear my head."  
She grabbed a glass from the cupboard and was going to go for a bottle of whiskey but then opted out and instead turned to the sink, filling her cup with water.  
"Where, clearly not in town since no one saw you or your car."  
Emma froze and looked at her parents and then toward the stairs. In her short talk with Henry she had forgotten to ask Henry about the car. She turned back to Mary Margaret and David.  
"You didn't mention to anyone what kind of…what kind of car it was did you?"  
"Anyone," Mary Margaret asked, "Anyone like Neal?"  
Emma looked down.  
"He came looking for you but no we didn't say anything." Mary Margaret got back on the subject. "Where did you go?"  
"Just this place an hour outside of town." Emma saw that her parents were waiting for a more concrete answer. "It was the tree that brought me here. I thought being there could help."  
David and Mary Margaret looked at each other. They would get to that part later.  
"You ran," said Mary Margaret.  
"I didn't-," Emma said raising her voice for a moment but then looked down and brought her voice down to a normal level, "Okay I guess I did."  
"Emma-," said Mary Margaret.  
She looked up, "It seemed like the right thing to do. It's what I'm used to."  
"But things are supposed to be different now," said David. "You don't have to run anymore."  
"That's just it," Emma said pleading in hopes they could somehow understand even though she knew that no matter how hard she tried, they never could.  
"Things are different. I can handle the way my life is now. I can handle being a daughter and a mom and the savior but I can't handle my ex coming back into my life as if the past eleven years didn't matter. It's been over twenty four hours and he's managed to work his way in just like the first time. Only difference is that now there's all this added confusion because of the time we've spent apart. I don't want this, I don't want him."  
"There must be a part of you that wants it," said Mary Margaret. "Emma the way you were kissing him this morning-,"  
"Was a mistake!" Emma stressed, "He caught me off guard."  
"It didn't look like a mistake to me," Mary Margaret said.  
Emma shook her head, "We shouldn't even be talking about this."  
"Oh but its okay to talk about my…personal life," asked Mary Margaret.  
Emma winced. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."  
"Emma," said Mary Margaret, "You can't run from this."  
Emma began walking toward the stairs to Henry's room. "I can try," she called over her shoulder.

****

Emma looked up and smiled as Ruby placed a cup of cocoa on the counter in front of her the next morning. She hadn't even ordered it yet.  
"You look like you could use it," said Ruby.  
"Thanks," replied Emma.  
"Long day all ready?"  
"More like a long few days."  
"Since Henry's dad came back," Ruby asked sympathetically. Emma stayed silent. "I'm sorry that must suck for you."  
"Just exactly how much did Mary Margaret tell you?"  
"Not much really but we come from a world where love is different than it is here so it's easy to recognize."  
"I am not," Emma said raising her voice and then lowered it, "I am not in love with Neal."  
Ruby just chuckled. "Yeah keep telling yourself that," she said as she went to go excuse herself to take care of other customers.  
Emma just sighed. She supposed she couldn't be mad at Ruby. Just like Mary Margaret she was concerned about her. Though Emma considered Ruby a friend in other ways she was more like an aunt of sorts. Mary Margaret didn't have any siblings but Ruby was the closest thing she had to a sister.

*****

"Are you sure I can't get you anything else," Emma over heard Ruby ask a customer.  
"Water is more than enough, thanks," said the customer.  
Emma turned to her left having recognized the voice. She smiled at River and walked over to her.  
"So are you stalking me now or something," Emma said to her.  
River looked up from the book she was reading and smiled. "I swear I didn't even know you lived here." River motioned to the seat in front of her. "Please sit," she said.  
"Thanks," Emma said doing so. "Really because it sure seemed like you knew a lot about me yesterday."  
"Not directly. I just see things."  
"So what brings you to Storybrooke?"  
"Is that Emma Swan asking or the sheriff?" River asked motioning to the badge on Emma's belt.  
"Whoever will get you to answer the question," Emma replied.  
"I'm looking for something."  
"Which is what?"  
"Guess I'll know it when I find it."  
"What's with the cryptic answers?"  
"You're not fond of that are you? You like people to be direct. When they're not it throws you off. You a woman who needs answers, you struggle to go on faith alone and yet its faith and believing in something more than yourself that makes you who you are but sometimes you fail to see that because you still want to believe in the reality you grew up in."  
Emma stayed silent for a moment.  
"How do you know that," she finally asked.  
"I'm quite observant."  
"Do you plan to stay here long?"  
"You ask a lot of questions."  
"I'm the sheriff, it's my job."  
River nodded. "Fair enough," she said. "I guess it all depends on me finding what I came here for and what I came to do."  
Standing up, River placed a few dollar bills on the table.  
"You coming sheriff," River asked as she made her way out of the diner.

*****

Emma followed her. River stood on the sidewalk, stopping, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. The air was clean, a hint of salt. There were clouds but it didn't seem like it would rain, it would just be an overcast kind of day.  
"A perfect day," said River.  
"For what?"  
River smiled, "Hiking."  
The two of them walked down the street where a navy blue explorer was parallel parked. River pulled out her keys and unlocked it.  
"I don't know why I'm doing this," Emma said as she got in the car.  
"I can think of several reasons," River replied.  
"Are you going to share them?"  
"You sure you want to hear them?"  
"If they're the only answers you can give me I'll take what I can get."  
"Okay one is your naturally curious. You're a seeker always have been and you usually can't rest until you find what it is your looking for. In this case, I'm the mysterious one so you need answers to that even though our lives have only crossed once before this. And the second is that you're trying to run from something. Getting in a car with a complete stranger is your way of not having to deal with whatever problems that had you run to that tree yesterday in the first place."  
Emma looked out the window and whispered, "You're two for two."

*****

River parked her explorer in a round parking lot pullout. In front of them was a bulletin board which had not been used in years. The two of them got out of the vehicle and Emma inspected the area.  
"I didn't even know there was a camping area around here."  
River opened the backseat and pulled out her day pack and a walking stick. "You'd be surprised at how many secrets this place holds but then you should probably know that more than most." Emma looked at River but said nothing. "Well am I right," River asked.  
Emma said nothing which gave River her answer.  
"You have your phone right," River asked.  
"Yeah why?"  
"Turn it off you won't need it out here."  
"But I'm the sheriff, they might need me."  
"Maybe but if you were really on the job you wouldn't be out here with me. You're out here for your own personal reasons same as me."  
Emma looked at River and smiled half-heartedly as she reached into her pocket and turned off the phone. She pressed the button she needed.  
"There, happy. What about yours?"  
River smiled, "I leave mine in the car," she said as she began walking toward one of the trail heads. "Usually where I go there's rarely cell reception. No point in using something that won't work in the woods. And where we're going it's always best not to be disturbed by outside distractions."  
"And you do this often?" Emma asked as the two made their way into the woods.  
River smiled. "My dad used to take me camping a lot when I was a kid. It was always our thing. One of the rules he had was no technology on camping trips. He said it defeated the purpose of being outdoors. When he died the camping continued and so did the rule."  
"What about your mom?"  
"She was never in the picture, well not really. She was only sixteen when she had me, my dad was eighteen. She was with us for a year before she couldn't take it and left."  
"I understand completely. Being a teenager with a kid isn't easy." River looked at Emma and waited for her to continue. "I was eighteen."  
"But you gave up your son." River shrugged as Emma looked at her. "It's a small town."  
"It's more than that," said Emma. "You're very intuitive about people aren't you?"  
The two of them continued to get deeper in the woods. "I'm intuitive about the land. People are just a part of it."

*****

River and Emma continued their walk in silence for a few miles until they reached a small outcrop that separated some of the woods. There were a few downed trees. And River stopped, pulling a couple bottles of water from her pack and some thin slabs of beef jerky. She handed a bottle and a slab to Emma.  
They took a seat on a couple of the logs.  
"I don't think I've ever been this far in," Emma said.  
"This place is bigger than we think," River answered. "It's the never ending forest but if you know your way, there's always an out."  
"For being a drifter you seem to know a lot about my town."  
"It's just the connection I have to it."  
"Which is what exactly?"  
River smiled, "Magic," she said simply.  
Emma gasped. Who was this girl? Who was River Stone? Intuitive to be sure but there was more to her than that.  
River picked up her walking stick.  
"Come on," she said to Emma. "We're not far, just about another mile."  
"I thought you said you didn't know what you were looking for, so how do you know how far we need to go?"  
"I can sense it. Take a moment Emma, look at where we are, listen."  
They remained silent for a moment and River closed her eyes.  
"I don't hear anything," said Emma.  
"Exactly," replied River. "There's nothing to hear and yet there's everything: Birds whisking in the trees to the north, the sound of a water droplet falling from a leaf and hitting a blade of grass near a small stream to the north east. Everything is synchronized to each other but instead of clutter there is a sense of order.  
Sometimes in order to un-clutter our minds we need to listen, to see her world so she can help us with our own. It's nice to turn to other people for help and it's great if you have a support system like that but it's also good to remove yourself from the world and be a part of the one that was here long before people and has survived many changes in its own life. If anyone knows about survival it's the earth."  
Emma watched this young girl. She seemed so wise beyond her years and maybe she was. Emma had known from personal experience that age didn't make you who you are but rather life experience. Some people got theirs from life in general, others from religion, or others like River herself from the very ground she walked on.  
In her time as a nomad, moving from place to place, Emma had come across a few people like River, people who saw the world on a natural level rather than a humanistic one. She had always thought people like that were a bit eccentric since it was a world she didn't understand.  
Seeing River though, she was not eccentric at all. She had people skills, to an extent, but like herself Emma could see that she preferred to be alone. The woods were a real home to her and from what she could gather, society seemed like a temporary home, though she lived in it she never felt part of it. Emma could relate to that. Society was River's foster home.  
They silently continued on their hike.

*****

About a mile later River and Emma arrived to a small clearing. About twenty yards ahead of them was a small river flowing and near it was a willow tree, the only tree in the vicinity if you didn't count the trees of the forest surrounding them.  
The branches and leaves swayed from the mild wind.  
"Beautiful isn't it?" River asked.  
"This is what you were looking for, a tree?"  
River placed her walking stick and her pack on the ground near her feet as she walked to the tree.  
"It's not just any tree," River said. Emma followed her and the two of them stood under the branches.  
River gently caressed the bark. "It's the only willow in this forest. I've seen a lot of them over the years but like your tree, this one is special to me."  
"You're her aren't you?" Emma asked.  
River smiled, "I knew you'd figure it out."  
"How is that even possible? Pocahontas was a historical figure, a historical figure from this world."  
"True but how is it possible for a tree to be blasted from the inside? Science has its answers I would think but we don't come from a land of science do we? Pocahontas may have been a historical figure in this world but what of the whispering willow? The Disney version showed her conversing with a talking tree that looked like an old woman. That was their way of not making it complicated for kids. In reality she was simply talking to the spirits, talking to the land and all that's part of it, looking for answers, looking within herself.  
Spirits transcend realms Emma. Some people die, cease to exist, become ghosts. Others such as me simply exist. No life, no death, just existing but still just as real."  
"And that part about your parents?"  
"All true, in this world. It can get pretty technical."  
"Do you ever get tired of it? I mean if you exist without life and death, don't you ever want to just… I don't know, move on?"  
"To what, some form of afterlife? What afterlife is there for a spirit that's omnipresent? I go between worlds, between realms, parallel dimensions. You get the idea."  
"Yeah I guess," said Emma.  
"I was in the Enchanted Forest at the time of the curse. There I really was a talking willow tree so those legends here are true," River said with a smirk. "It's how I knew who you were. There had been whispers of a savior who would return in twenty eight years and me being what I am, I knew that savior was you."  
"So that's how you came to Storybrooke, you're part of the town, part of the curse."  
"In a way yes but because I'm a spirit I'm not trapped here the way others are. Enough about me though Emma, how can I help you?"  
"What makes you think I need help?"  
"You've retreated to the woods twice."  
"I know the running thing," said Emma. "I know I need to stop."  
"Not necessarily. I don't consider it running. I consider it taking a break, taking a moment to put things into perspective."  
"You're the first person to say that."  
River shrugged, "Well I'm a drifter by nature but even humans need to do that every once in a while."  
"Thanks."  
"You have this look in your eye Emma, like you're conflicted. There's something you want but something you're afraid to go after."  
"You can see all that?"  
"I've spent eons around people of all worlds. The look of pain is always the same. You carry a weight of pain but also one of love, a love you're afraid to embrace."  
River reached out her hand to Emma, "Come, there's something I want to show you."  
Emma hesitantly looked at River's outstretched hand but reluctantly took it.

*****

They walked several yards to the left along the river. River knelt down.  
"Tell me what you see."  
Emma looked into the water. "Stones, algae, water. What's your point?"  
"There's stillness here," said River. "Everything is clear."  
She then reached into the water and ripples moved as she picked up a stone and gently skipped it sideways in the river. It landed feet away downstream where it settled on top of more rocks.  
"Chaos ensues but only for a moment."  
"It becomes steady again," said Emma.  
"Exactly," River said with a smile. "I know you're confused about a lot Emma, about love especially but you all ready know what it is you want."  
"How can you be so sure?"  
"Same reason I'm sure about this river. Life may throw things at it, it may dry up, it may break and change form but it still remains the same as it was. It doesn't cease being a river just because of chaotic forces. Love is the same way."

*****

Emma stood up and walked back toward the willow tree taking a seat and leaning against it.  
"It's not as easy as it seems."  
"I never said it was easy," River said walking over and sitting next to her. "Out of all the worlds I've been in, love has never been harder than it is in this one but love is still that. You love this man don't you?"  
"I used to but so much time has passed," said Emma.  
"Time shouldn't matter. Just look at your parents." Emma looked at River wondering where she was leading with this. "They were separated for twenty eight years. Did time matter for them?"  
"I guess you have a point but it's different for them."  
"How so?"  
"I grew up here. I didn't grow up in a world where true love meant happily ever after."  
"That's where you're wrong Emma. You may not have grown up in a world that gets their happily ever after the way other world's do but you stem from that world. You carry the magic within you. You brought back the happy endings for others so I know you can do the same for yourself. It's a balance.  
You've always known in your heart what you really want. You've got that chance now. This is the part when I'm gonna tell you to stop running. Stop running and just listen to what's inside. Don't be afraid of it, embrace it. True love doesn't happen often and it doesn't happen to everybody. When that switch gets turned on it can never be turned off."  
"You really believe that?"  
"I do but it shouldn't matter what I believe. You're the daughter of true love so you tell me."  
Emma looked at River for a moment and then focused her eyes on the river that they had just been at.  
The two were content to sit for a while in silence with their thought.

*****

"Henry," David said as Emma and Henry walked into the apartment, "Why don't you-,"  
Henry sighed, "Go upstairs and do my homework, I know." Henry looked at Emma, "When are you going to stop getting in trouble?"  
Emma sighed too and placed a hand on Henry's back. "When I stop screwing up kid," she said to him.  
"You've been doing that a lot these past few days."  
"I know. Go upstairs while I talk to your grandparents okay?"  
Henry nodded and made his way and Emma waited an extra minute.  
"I know you're mad," she said to them.  
"Damn right we are," Mary Margaret said to her daughter not fearing to show her anger. "You were gone all day again today."  
"Yeah I know," Emma replied. "Something came up."  
"Do I even have to ask about your phone," Mary Margaret asked.  
"I had it turned off."  
"Emma," said David. "Talk to us, please. We want to be there for you but we don't know how."  
Emma gave a sad smile to them. "I know and I'm sorry for all the crap I've been putting you through these past couple of days. It's just been really hard."  
"Having Neal here," said Mary Margaret.  
Emma walked over and took a seat at the table.  
"That and a few other things," she said. "I didn't exactly have the most normal upbringing. There was never really anyone there to talk to about the changes a girl goes through much less anyone to talk to when it came to stuff about guys so I internalized a lot. I'm not used to talking to people about that kind of stuff let alone family since I never had one. And when people did try to get close, foster parents or foster siblings or what have you, I retreated and remained silent. Eventually people got the hint and they left me alone."  
David and Mary Margaret took a seat at the table.  
"But you don't have to do that anymore," said David. "You can talk to us about anything. You're not alone anymore."  
"I know and I'm more than grateful for all of that believe me I am. It's just sometimes easier to get back into old habits." Emma looked up at her parents. "I know I've been all over the place lately but I finally have things in perspective now. I just needed some time to sort out the mess. A friend told me that in order to do that sometimes you need to retreat from the world and be a part of the natural one. I'm not one for all of that tree-hugger stuff but she was right about a few things, most actually."  
"What friend," Mary Margaret asked her tone now warm and genuinely curious.  
Emma smiled, "Just a whispering willow," she said to them. "I'll explain later. The point is I finally got things straightened out.  
Emma stood up and looked over at the stairs then back at her parents.  
"Do you guys mind watching him for a little bit, there's something I have to do," she said to them.  
"Emma-," said Mary Margaret.  
"Don't worry, I'm not running. I may need to retreat and have some alone time every once in a while but not for a long while. I'm done running, I promise." Emma took a deep breath. "I need to go see Neal. I didn't exactly leave things on good terms with him and I have been avoiding him. It's time to finally sort things out between us."  
Mary Margaret looked over at David and smiled and then back at Emma.  
"So there is an 'us' between you two?"  
Emma bit her lip and placed her hands in her back pockets. "I'm not sure but I know now I want there to be. I think I've always known. I just needed to stop and actually listen."  
David smiled. Though he wasn't fond of Neal what he wanted was to see his daughter happy. It pained him that he couldn't help her but now that she was getting slowly back on her feet he was glad to see a spark in her eye.  
"Sure," he said to her, "We can watch him."  
"Good luck," Mary Margaret said to her.  
"Thanks," Emma said leaving the apartment.

*****

Emma stood outside of Neal's motel room pacing for a minute. She finally took a deep breath and turned to knock on the door. She could hear from the other side as the door was being unlocked. The door opened slightly and then widened.  
"Emma," Neal said.  
Emma placed her hands in her back pockets.  
"Hi," she said simply.  
Neal smiled, "Come in."  
Emma did so and Neal closed the door behind her. She looked at it. There was no going back now.  
Emma looked around the place and walked over to the lamp that was on the green dresser. There hung over it was the yellow dream catcher.  
Hesitantly Emma ran her fingers over it.  
"After all these years you still kept it," Emma said to him.  
"How could I not? I'm sure it's the same reason why you kept the car."  
Emma looked at him.  
Neal shrugged like he was guilty. "I saw it earlier today when I tried to look for you."  
Emma bit her lip for a second and then looked at Neal. She took a second deep breath.  
"Those things you've said recently," Emma told him, "about you coming to find me, about you not going anywhere, you wanting me, you meant them right? I know you did but I have to hear it from you."  
"I meant every word."  
"And you're sure because this isn't just about me anymore. I have to think about what's best for Henry and always put him first and I can't just have you coming in and out whenever it suits you. It's not good for him. Being a parent isn't easy and there are days when the kid will drive you up a wall but once you decide to stay you can't decide to just leave when it gets too hard, you can't go back."  
Neal took a step toward Emma. "There's nothing in my life to go back to. I got by on some low finance job in New York but it was never my dream. I've waited eleven years for you."  
"And Henry," asked Emma. "He and I are kind of a package deal."  
"I want to be a father to my son. I want the same chance you got with him."  
"Were there other women?"  
"A few but they never had any faces to them, they didn't mean anything. Were there other men in your life?"  
"A few but they didn't mean anything either."  
"Why are you stalling," Neal asked. "What is it you want Emma?"  
Emma sighed, "That's what I've been trying to figure out for the past two days. What if you disappear again?"  
Neal took another step closer. "I won't."  
"Yeah but-,"  
"Emma, listen to me carefully. I love you, always have. I messed up I know that but I'm not going anywhere not unless it's with you and with Henry."  
"You're asking a lot Neal. I'm not that seventeen year old girl anymore. I can't just go wherever I feel like it. My life is here, in Storybrooke with my kid, with my mom and dad. This is home now."  
"I'm not asking you to leave. I'm telling you I want to stay."  
"You're sure because I don't even know how long that will be. A lot of people still look to me, still see me as the savior. A lot of people are getting home sick now that they have their memories back so there might come a day when I have to choose between this world and the Enchanted Forest and-,"  
"And wherever you and Henry are that's where I want to be. I'm going to ask you again Emma, what is it you want?"  
Emma looked up at Neal. For the first time since his arrival her eyes gleamed with hope. She took one step closer to him finally closing the gap so that they were mere inches apart. Emma smiled at him and he smiled in return. She reached up, their lips meeting softly.  
It was gentle at first. Not like their first kiss had been a couple days ago at the sheriff's station. More subtle, cautious. Everything about the simplicity of it felt right. Emma knew in this moment it was exactly where she needed to be.  
This time it was Neal who pulled back. For a second Emma looked hurt until she saw a smile form across his lips.  
"You're sure," he asked.  
Emma took a step closer erasing the distance that Neal had just created. She hesitantly placed her hands on his chest and looked up at him and smiled.  
"You were right the other day, that thing that's between us, I do still feel it. Today I was reminded that where there's true love, it doesn't matter how much time has passed. What's eleven years when you have eternal love?"  
Neal smiled at Emma impressed by her wisdom of words.  
"I love you," he whispered.  
Emma smiled, "I love you too."  
The gap between their lips closed in again, their lips wrapping around one another.

~END~

Chapter 22: Bonus Feature-Extended Scene

Author's Note:  
Okay so both endings were coming at me simultaneously and I couldn't decide between them so I decided to just include this one as a bonus feature/extended scene.

Extended Scene: Together at Last

"You were right the other day, that thing that's between us, I do still feel it. Today I was reminded that where there's true love, it doesn't matter how much time has passed. What's eleven years when you have eternal love?"  
Neal smiled at Emma impressed by her wisdom of words.  
"I love you," he whispered.  
Emma smiled, "I love you too."  
The gap between their lips closed in again, their lips wrapping around one another. Emma wrapped her arms around Neal's neck and he in turn wrapped his arms around her waist bringing her closer. Their tongues caressed each other tenderly.  
Taking a breath Neal lifted Emma up from the floor, she wrapping her legs around his waist as he led her to the bed. Neal slithered his way up to her and paused for a moment. Emma reached for his shirt, yanking it over his head and tossing it to the side. Neal did the same with Emma's.  
This time Emma wasn't as hesitant as she rubbed her fingers over his chest getting a feel for his body. She could feel her own heart begin to race and she could feel the thrumming of his own heart as she held her right hand over it.  
Neal softly ran his hands over Emma's arms and then made his way to her stomach, touching the very sacred place that had housed their child all those years ago. His right hand made its way to her back, sliding upward until he reached for the clasps. The black bra was tossed aside with the rest of the clothing.  
Emma looked at Neal and smiled. He met her gaze and smiled back at her as he slowly leaned down, Emma lifting her head slightly to meet him, their lips meeting with a gentle ferocity that led on into the rest of the night.

*****

Emma's head rested on Neal's chest early the next morning; his left arm wrapped around her.  
"Do you regret what happened last night," Neal asked.  
Emma traced her fingers along the lines of his muscles. "I want to. It goes against all of the hatred and anger I had for so long but that's gone now." She looked up at him, "Last night was…"  
"Perfect, amazing? More than just a one night stand," Neal said thinking of his own words.  
Emma laughed a little, "Yeah all of those, but it was also more than that." Emma placed her head back on his chest. "I didn't think it would feel like that again. I'm glad it did."  
"Me too," Neal replied.  
The two remained silent for a moment before Neal spoke up again. "So what happens now, you go back home and do the walk of shame?"  
Emma laughed. "Yeah my parents are going to have a field day with that one, aren't they?"  
"And Henry?"  
"I think as long as he doesn't catch us in bed together we're okay. I'll think of something."  
Neal raised his brow. "Is there something I'm missing?"  
Emma cringed at the memory. "Let's just say I've all ready skated by on having the talk with him though I probably will have to at some point unless I leave that to David. He's been really good with him."  
"Having your family back, it's been good for you hasn't it?"  
"It has. It was weird at first but now I can't imagine it any other way."  
"And you don't have a problem living with them?"  
Emma smirked. "Why because I'm twenty eight years old and still living at home?" she asked looking at him.  
Neal looked down, "I didn't mean for that question to sound the way it did."  
"I know and no, it's not a problem at all. I've waited my entire life to be with them so it's a good thing. We've managed to make it work."  
Neal hugged Emma a little tighter, "I'm happy for you. So should we order breakfast or-,"  
Placing her head on his chest and taking his right hand in her left, Emma looked at their entwined hands. "Maybe in a little while," she said, "Right now I just want to lay here with you."  
Neal placed a kiss on top of her head, "We can do that too."  
Emma smiled and closed her eyes, content in the silence but not really falling asleep. She thought about everything that had happened the past few days: Neal's arrival, her confusion, the time she spent with him and Henry.  
And she thought about the whispering willow. She had been right. Like the river, love didn't cease to exist just because of the forces life threw at it. It endured and not even time could directly change what it was.  
Neal was a part of her the same way her parents and her son were. Her family felt complete now. She was complete.

~END~


End file.
